USDA Says Current Tests Are Ineffective in Detecting E. Coli in Beef

Tests used by USDA inspectors at beef-packing plants across the country are not effective in gauging whether "trim," the product from which ground beef is derived, is contaminated with E. coli bacteria, according to an audit published March 7 by the department's inspector general.

Tests used by USDA inspectors at beef-packing plants across the country are not effective in gauging whether "trim," the product from which ground beef is derived, is contaminated with E. coli bacteria, according to an audit published March 7 by the department's inspector general.

The report says that if 1 percent of beef trim at a plant were contaminated with E. coli, it would result in a 45 percent chance it would be detected using USDA' current testing procedure. That, says the IG report, is not good enough. The procedure, under which inspectors test 60 sample pieces, is "more likely not to find E. coli O157:H7 than it is to find it," the report says.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), for whom food safety is a major issue, responded to the report, saying: "I am very disturbed that the findings in this report confirm that the sampling program developed by [USDA's] Food Safety and Inspection Service to determine the safety of beef 'trim' products is not statically valid. Even more troubling is that, based on the report's findings, this sampling method is not able to verify that plant controls or interventions are working as intended. USDA must come up with a statistically valid sampling program and a corresponding cost estimate for the revised sampling program and laboratory costs.

"The report's conclusion represents a significant public health threat because it is not designed to yield the statistical precision that is reasonable for food safety. We must give FSIS the tools and resources to allow the agency to fulfill their responsibility to protect our meat and poultry supply. This is why it is critical that Congress to resist dangerous budget cuts and fund these agencies at a level that will enable them to effectively protect public health."  

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