August 16, 2008

 

Nebraska Beef recall expands on ineffective E. coli control

Nebraska Beef was unable to effectively control the E. coli bacteria on June 24, which prompted Thursday's recall expansion, according to the USDA.

 

About 1.36 million pounds of beef is now included in the recall that began on August 8 after the company's meat was connected to an E. coli outbreak in 10 states and Canada. The initial announcement recalled 1.2 million pounds of beef produced from mid-June to early July.

 

Last month, Nebraska Beef also recalled 5.3 million pounds of meat meant for ground beef due to another E. coli outbreak and federal officials said they were satisfied the company was operating safely.

 

USDA spokeswoman Laura Reiser said investigators decided that 160,000 pounds of meat should be included into the current recall after examining the June 24th records for Nebraska Beef's Omaha plant.

 

The company had not cleaned its equipment sufficiently to ensure meat produced later in the day (June 24, 2008) was safe, according to Reiser.

 

The Omaha plant is still producing beef at full capacity as the recall progresses, according to Nebraska Beef spokesman Bill Lamson.

 

The current recall are primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef, with some of these cuts used for ground beef though they are typically used for steaks and roasts. Lamson said the company's primal cuts boxes have labels declaring the meat is not meant for use in ground beef.

 

In July, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) declared that it has come to the conclusion that Nebraska Beef's production practices were insufficient to effectively control E. coli bacteria for meat used in ground beef between May 16 and June 26.

 

On a side note, the USDA head Ed Schafer had said that food safety in the US is doing just fine, despite that the country had faced a high number of food recalls and reports of lethal food-borne illnesses this year.

 

Some of the recalls came from the US' largest meat processors and grocery chains, but Schafer assured that the number of contaminated products has declined in recent years and the situation is improving.

 

The USDA does not need to increase the number of inspectors or change testing requirement, according to Schafer.