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USDA GETS TOUGH....YESIREE!!!!

Mike

Well-known member
Story Published: Oct 23, 2007 at 4:47 PM PDT

Story Updated: Oct 23, 2007 at 5:03 PM PDT
By Herb Weisbaum
SEATTLE - The USDA said Tuesday it is taking steps to lower the risk of e.coli contamination in the nation's meat supply.

It has been a really bad year for the meat industry, and for anyone who eats ground beef. In fact, 2007 will be a record year for recalls related to e.coli. Just look at the numbers: So far this year, there have been 15 beef recalls. That compares to 8 in 2006 and 5 in 2005.

The amount of meat recalled this year has been enormous -- 29 million pounds, which is a record for one year.

A few weeks ago, I went back to Washington, D.C. to find out why this is happening. The culprit is e.coli O157:H7, a nasty bacteria that attacks the kidneys and can cripple or kill.

No one has exact numbers, but ground beef contaminated with e.coli has sickened dozens of people across the country this year.

'We're very concerned about whether or not this trend will continue," said Caroline Smith Dewaal, director of food safety at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The meat industry says producing a safe product is its top priority, and for obvious reasons: News about bad meat hurts business.

I asked her: "Do we have any idea what's going on here? Why this is making a comeback?"

She replied: "I think both the government and the industry are trying to figure out why. But the bottom line for the public is that the government programs aren't working effectively to control this.

"There might be a change in the way USDA is inspecting. There also might be a change in the bug itself. E.coli may be evolving past the systems that the industry had developed to get rid of them. Most importantly, many of the best practices for controlling e.coli are not required by the U.S. government."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that more needs to be done. The agency will increase and expand its testing programs, and it will now check the raw ingredients, such as trim and internal organs, that go into ground beef.

As of November, all beef processing plants and slaughter houses will be expected to verify that they are effectively controlling e.coli during processing and slaughter.

Inspectors, who are in meat plants every day, are being retrained to do a better job of making sure proper food safety procedures are being used.

But even the most aggressive testing programs won't catch all the e.coli that could be in the meat. So to be safe, you need to treat all ground beef as if it is contaminated.

That means you need to cook it thoroughly to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. You can't rely on the color of the meat or the color of the juices -- that's not accurate.

You need to use a thermometer to make sure the meat hits 160 degrees. You also need to be sure you don't cross contaminate -- moving any bacteria from one place to another in your kitchen.

As for reaction to the USDA proposal, Seattle attorney Bill Marler, who handles the bulk of the e.coli cases in the country and who has been one of the USDA's chief critic, calls this "a positive step that could make a significant difference." But he adds, "this should have been in place a long time ago."

If the USDA's new meat safety program is going to work, Marler says there needs to be serious enforcement: "I hope USDA has the willpower and manpower to do that."

For More Information:

www.fsis.usda.gov
 

PORKER

Well-known member
News about bad meat hurts business.

I asked her: "Do we have any idea what's going on here? Why this is making a comeback?"

She replied: "I think both the government and the industry are trying to figure out why.******** ITS OVERSEAS BEEF with ECOLI H7



But the bottom line for the public is that the government programs aren't working effectively to control this.******* TOPPS USED OVERSEAS BEEF

Another CASE;
Texas company could face criminal charges, fines up to $10,000


10:37 PM CDT on Saturday, August 19, 2006
By PAULA LAVIGNE / The Dallas Morning News

Is organic food the real deal?


Organic certifier targeted

Lobbyists sprout up to change standards
Firm accused of selling regular beans as organic

A Texas company that sold regular beans as organic to customers all over the nation has been cited for breaking several federal rules and could face criminal charges.

Sel-Cor Bean & Pea, near Lubbock, sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of pinto and garbanzo beans to customers who were told they were organic.

But investigators with the Texas Department of Agriculture determined that owner Basilio Coronado sold them regular beans instead.

State officials referred the case to the Terry County district attorney's office for possible charges. District Attorney Ramon Gallegos said he was reviewing it.
Substantial penalties

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which enforces organic laws, could issue fines up to $10,000 for violating use of the USDA Organic label. Officials there said they could not comment because of the investigation.

Mr. Coronado could not be reached by phone or fax. His attorney, Jimmy Hammons, said he had no comment.

Sel-Cor Bean & Pea did not grow crops. It cleaned, bagged and shipped beans and peas that it bought from farmers and sold to other traders, distributors or manufacturers.

Mr. Coronado's transactions in question involved hundreds of thousands of dollars and more than 1,400 tons of pinto and garbanzo beans and milo, according to documents released by the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Those beans trickle down through processing companies and eventually end up on supermarket shelves in bags and cans or as ingredients in other foods, though it's unknown exactly where Sel-Cor's products may have landed.

Every organic business has to be certified by a company or agency approved to enact USDA standards, and Sel-Cor chose the Texas Department of Agriculture as its certifier.

On July 31, Texas agriculture officials issued a notice to revoke Sel-Cor's organic certification, effective Sept. 10. The company has until about the end of August to appeal.

State agriculture officials said Mr. Coronado's records didn't add up. His receipts showed that he was selling more organic products to distributors than he bought from farmers.

The Texas Department of Agriculture's letter to the district attorney's office states that trying to disguise a regular product as organic in order to sell it for a higher price "may defraud the purchaser and create windfall profits for the seller."

"Noncompliance with organic marketing laws not only harms the consumers of specific products directly, but can also indirectly create distrust of all Texas organic products," the letter states.

In one case, Mr. Coronado said he'd bought organic pinto beans from a farmer in New Mexico. That farmer told investigators that he did not sell organic pinto beans to Sel-Cor and that he did not grow organic pinto beans.

The pinto beans in question were sold as organic to American Health & Nutrition, a wholesale natural and organic company in Ann Arbor, Mich., the records state. The company supplies more than 200 distributors and food manufacturers worldwide.


'It worried me a lot'

"It worried me a lot when I heard about [the Texas Department of Agriculture] doing an investigation of pintos. I know we had taken a truckload and sold them to some very good, highly credible customers," said president Dennis Singsank.

His brother David Singsank, who handles purchasing, said, "Obviously he's lied about a zillion times to everyone about everything. I hope somebody will be able to recoup some of their money."

At least three companies have filed lawsuits against Mr. Coronado for either failing to pay them for product he received or otherwise reneging on sales contracts. Altogether, the lawsuits demanded more than $360,000.

When a certifier weeds out a potential violator, that is proof the system works, said Texas Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Beverly Boyd.

"We need to protect the integrity of the organic certification program, not only among organic growers but for the general public," she said. "Consumers need to know when they see the organic label they are buying an organic product."

E-mail [email protected]
 

PPRM

Well-known member
Lots of "Nice Words" (Politicalspeak) about being concerned, but I simply don't see a lot of bite in anything....

Hmmmmmm.....Train Inspectors to recognize problems that they have no authority to shut a line down for. I bet inspectors being recognized as inadequately trained as a part of the problem is a huge morale boost...

PPRM
 

Tex

Well-known member
PPRM said:
Lots of "Nice Words" (Politicalspeak) about being concerned, but I simply don't see a lot of bite in anything....

Hmmmmmm.....Train Inspectors to recognize problems that they have no authority to shut a line down for. I bet inspectors being recognized as inadequately trained as a part of the problem is a huge morale boost...

PPRM

The best way to judge intent is to judge the actions, not what one says.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
She replied: "I think both the government and the industry are trying to figure out why.******** (ITS OVERSEAS BEEF with ECOLI H7 )
 
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