A
Anonymous
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Another step at taking away States rights and transferring to the Feds by the overly powerful, corporate ran USDA... "Sig Heil" :wink:
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Tainted beef's source kept secret
E. coli outbreak killed 1, sickened 17
BY FREDERIC J. FROMMER
TwinCities/ Pioneer Press \ Minnesota
Associated Press
Oct. 13, 2006
WASHINGTON — Federal officials refused to tell Minnesota authorities which of two beef plants were linked to a fatal E. coli outbreak last summer, according to a state report.
One woman died and at least 17 people were sickened from the E. coli outbreak in the Longville area, after eating ground beef.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health report, state officials narrowed the source of the E. coli to two processing plants — which they identified only as "Plant A" and "Plant B."
The report said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had reported that beef trimmings from a processing plant yielded the same genetic material as that in the E. coli outbreak. But the USDA wouldn't identify that plant, saying it wasn't public information. That made it impossible for state authorities to specify the source of the outbreak.
"We had all this correlation, we wanted to find out which plant it came from," said Kevin Elfering, director of the dairy and food division of the Minnesota Agriculture Department, in a telephone interview this week. "At that point, they were not able to give us that information, because they had some concerns on their data practices."
Elfering said that his department had three or four conference calls with USDA officials seeking the information, but to no avail. Officials there argued the information was not public.
"They would not give out the information," he said. "We're more effective when we cooperate together."
Elfering said that he is working with the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service on a memorandum of understanding so the USDA can share that information in the future.
FSIS spokesman Steve Cohen said that his agency is working with Minnesota officials "on a legally supportable process for both information sharing and confidentiality."
Cohen said that FSIS officials could not definitively link the E. coli found in the plant's sample with the E. coli in the outbreak. And he stressed that the beef trimmings sample with the E. coli from the plant was never shipped out.
"Had it entered commerce, of course, there would have been a recall," he said.
twincities.com
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Tainted beef's source kept secret
E. coli outbreak killed 1, sickened 17
BY FREDERIC J. FROMMER
TwinCities/ Pioneer Press \ Minnesota
Associated Press
Oct. 13, 2006
WASHINGTON — Federal officials refused to tell Minnesota authorities which of two beef plants were linked to a fatal E. coli outbreak last summer, according to a state report.
One woman died and at least 17 people were sickened from the E. coli outbreak in the Longville area, after eating ground beef.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health report, state officials narrowed the source of the E. coli to two processing plants — which they identified only as "Plant A" and "Plant B."
The report said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had reported that beef trimmings from a processing plant yielded the same genetic material as that in the E. coli outbreak. But the USDA wouldn't identify that plant, saying it wasn't public information. That made it impossible for state authorities to specify the source of the outbreak.
"We had all this correlation, we wanted to find out which plant it came from," said Kevin Elfering, director of the dairy and food division of the Minnesota Agriculture Department, in a telephone interview this week. "At that point, they were not able to give us that information, because they had some concerns on their data practices."
Elfering said that his department had three or four conference calls with USDA officials seeking the information, but to no avail. Officials there argued the information was not public.
"They would not give out the information," he said. "We're more effective when we cooperate together."
Elfering said that he is working with the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service on a memorandum of understanding so the USDA can share that information in the future.
FSIS spokesman Steve Cohen said that his agency is working with Minnesota officials "on a legally supportable process for both information sharing and confidentiality."
Cohen said that FSIS officials could not definitively link the E. coli found in the plant's sample with the E. coli in the outbreak. And he stressed that the beef trimmings sample with the E. coli from the plant was never shipped out.
"Had it entered commerce, of course, there would have been a recall," he said.
twincities.com