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"Cooking" E Coli Contaminated Beef

Mike

Well-known member
Wonder how much this "E Coli Contaminated" beef sells for? :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Stephen J. Hedges • Chicago Tribune
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Friday, November 16, 2007
(MCT) WASHINGTON—One federal inspector called it the “E. coli loophole.” Another said nobody would buy the product if they knew.

The officials are referring to the little-discussed fact that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has deemed it acceptable for meat companies to cook and sell meat on which E. coli, a bacterium that can sicken and even kill humans, is found during processing.

The “E. coli loophole” affects millions of pounds of beef each year that test positive for the presence of E. coli O157:H7, a particularly virulent strain of the bacteria.

The department allows companies to put this E. coli-positive meat in “cook only” category.

Cooking the meat, according to the USDA and producers, destroys the bacteria and makes it safe to eat as pre-cooked hamburgers, meat loaf, crumbled taco meat and other products.

But some USDA inspectors said the “cook only” practice means higher-than-appropriate levels of E. coli are tolerated in packing plants, raising the chance that clean meat will become contaminated.

They said the practice is part of the reason for this year’s sudden rise in incidents of E. coli contamination.

“All the product that is E. coli-positive, they put a ‘cooking only’ tag on it,” said one inspector, who asked to remain anonymous—like other federal inspectors interviewed who feared they could lose their jobs.

There is no evidence “cook only” meat has directly sickened consumers, but some inspectors contend that the practice conceals significantly higher levels of E. coli bacteria in packing plants. Companies that find E. coli are allowed to shift that meat immediately into “cook only” lines, without reporting it to the USDA.

The USDA regularly conducts tests for E. coli in slaughtering plants, but only on meat that packing companies have already deemed free of E. coli, the department inspectors said.

Department officials said they do not track how much meat is put into “cook only” categories, but interviews with inspectors suggested it is a significant amount.

“The government just keeps putting out that we’ve reduced E. coli bacteria levels by 50 percent and all of that,” an inspector said. “And we haven’t done nothing. We’ve just covered it up.”

The USDA denied this. In answers to written questions from the Chicago Tribune, department officials said the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service collects its own random samples without waiting for test results from plants.

Meat industry representatives and the USDA said there is no risk from beef that is fully cooked, since cooking meat at above 160 degrees Fahrenheit kills pathogens such as E. coli.

Meat companies also said they have taken significant steps to eliminate E. coli in meat during the slaughtering process, including lactic acid washes of carcasses and steam treatments in which carcasses are heated to kill the bacteria.

Meat found with E. coli isn’t worth as much, they said.

“If raw ground beef has to go into a ‘cook only’ category, it loses value,” said Randall Huffman, senior vice president for scientific affairs at the American Meat Institute, an industry group. “There’s not as big a market for that.”

© 2007 Chicago Tribune
 

Tex

Well-known member
“The government just keeps putting out that we’ve reduced E. coli bacteria levels by 50 percent and all of that,” an inspector said. “And we haven’t done nothing. We’ve just covered it up.”
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
They were discussing this on tv nightly news last night (which was probably being viewed by millions of beef or former beef consumers :roll: ) -- and the main point made was that the USDA inspected stamp no longer means anything- and in many cases actually is a fraudulent coverup for the meat/food corporations....
That the Bush administration and the USDA/FDA/CSPA in their wild efforts to allow their elitist Corporate buddies stuff their pockets with huge profits from tainted/defective products from around the world have completely thrown out the principles of providing a safe or wholesome product to consumers- and not only said "buyer beware"- but actually are saying "buyer be damned" :shock: :( :mad: Kind of the old NCBA theory--"You dumfolk there eat what all we'uns stick in front of you and like it"....
 

Mike

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
They were discussing this on tv nightly news last night (which was probably being viewed by millions of beef or former beef consumers :roll: ) -- and the main point made was that the USDA inspected stamp no longer means anything- and in many cases actually is a fraudulent coverup for the meat/food corporations....
That the Bush administration and the USDA/FDA/CSPA in their wild efforts to allow their elitist Corporate buddies stuff their pockets with huge profits from tainted/defective products from around the world have completely thrown out the principles of providing a safe or wholesome product to consumers- and not only said "buyer beware"- but actually are saying "buyer be damned" :shock: :( :mad: Kind of the old NCBA theory--"You dumfolk there eat what all we'uns stick in front of you and like it"....

This problem ain't just been around the past few years:

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=28607
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Mike said:
Oldtimer said:
They were discussing this on tv nightly news last night (which was probably being viewed by millions of beef or former beef consumers :roll: ) -- and the main point made was that the USDA inspected stamp no longer means anything- and in many cases actually is a fraudulent coverup for the meat/food corporations....
That the Bush administration and the USDA/FDA/CSPA in their wild efforts to allow their elitist Corporate buddies stuff their pockets with huge profits from tainted/defective products from around the world have completely thrown out the principles of providing a safe or wholesome product to consumers- and not only said "buyer beware"- but actually are saying "buyer be damned" :shock: :( :mad: Kind of the old NCBA theory--"You dumfolk there eat what all we'uns stick in front of you and like it"....

This problem ain't just been around the past few years:

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=28607

Oh-- I agree-- but its getting worse-especially since all the tainted imports hit and is just now really getting the publicity and media attention...

Definitely can't be helping consumer demand...
 

Mike

Well-known member
House Votes to Halt Meat Imports By March 2000 Unless Foreign Inspections Certified Equivalent to U.S.
WASHINGTON - By a unanimous voice vote, the U.S. House of Representatives today approved legislation ordering the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to stop the importation, by March 1, 2000, of meat or poultry from countries whose meat inspection system is not “equivalent” to the U.S. inspection system.

The legislation comes on the heels of a charge by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) that — contrary to recent USDA Congressional testimony — the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the USDA has not actually determined that foreign meat inspection systems provide a level of inspection for Salmonella “equivalent” to the U.S. inspection system.

The legislation was an amendment, offered by Rep. Carrie P. Meek (D-Fl), to the FY 2000 appropriations bill for the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies.

“We applaud Congresswoman Meek’s leadership in ensuring the safety of imported meat. It’s unfortunate that Congress had to step in to get USDA to enforce U.S. food-safety laws,” said Benjamin Cohen, senior staff attorney for CSPI, a nonprofit consumer-advocacy organization.

On April 28, 1999, USDA representatives told the House Subcommittee on Livestock and Horticulture that “not one pound of imported products is permitted entry into the U.S. unless it has undergone inspection in a system certified by FSIS as equivalent to the FSIS inspection system.” However, according to documents acquired by CSPI from FSIS, the USDA is allowing imports of meat and poultry from 35 countries without all the information needed to determine whether their Salmonella testing standards are equivalent to the U.S. standards.

Salmonella bacteria can cause diarrhea and systemic infections that can be fatal to infants, very young children, the elderly, and individuals with compromised immune systems. As many as 3.8 million infections occur each year in the United States. In July 1996, the Clinton Administration announced new rules for Salmonella testing that were designed to combat such problems.

Prior to 1994, the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act required that imported meat and poultry be subjected to the same safety standards as that produced domestically. Article 4 of the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures — ratified by Congress in 1994 — requires that countries permit food imports if information supplied by the foreign government shows that its food-safety inspection system is “equivalent” to the importing country’s.

“USDA’s failure to determine whether foreign meat inspection systems are ‘equivalent’ to U.S. law indicates that trade agreements involving food safety may be unworkable. It is ironic that while the Clinton Administration touts its food-safety initiative, it has failed to apply some of the most important new rules to imports,” stated Bruce Silverglade, CSPI director of legal affairs. “We hope the Administration supports amendments to the SPS Agreement this November when the U.S. hosts a meeting of WTO ministers.”
 

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