USDA Bans Six Strains Of E. coli From Beef

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Hamburger Helper: New ban makes deadly pathogens illegal in beef trim and components...but ground beef won't be tested, and it's unclear what the impact will be on millions of pounds of imported beef...





Still, processors will only be required to test beef trim and whole beef components for the Big Six, not ground beef, Vilsack and Hagen said.

USDA gets "our biggest bang for our buck" by testing beef trim and components rather than ground beef, Hagen noted, because these are then ground into hamburger meat.

"We'll look at extending" testing to ground beef in the future, Hagen said, after USDA evaluates information on trim and component testing. But requirements for expanding the testing to include ground beef will require a new notice in the Federal Register, she said.

The Big Six can cause everything from diarrhea to the most extreme form of illness, Hemolytic-uremic syndrome, which causes kidney failure, anemia, and death, as the pathogens multiply in the blood and destroy internal organs. Even a tiny amount of pathogen can make consumers profoundly ill. Children under five and the elderly are most at risk for illness and death, and the strains can cause both primary and secondary infections--meaning that someone who has not consumed contaminated meat can also become ill after having contact with an individual who is infected.

FDA has long banned the sale of foods it monitors from containing the Big Six, but USDA has been slower to act, though some Big Six pathogens have been responsible for recent large-scale foodborne disease outbreaks. Today's announcement comes after years of debate and study, pressure from food safety advocates--and pushback from the meat industry, due to a variety of concerns, including the cost of testing.

http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2011/09/usda-bans-six-strains-of-e-coli-from.html

FEEL SAFER?  IN MOST STATES AGRI BUSINESS FACTORY FARMS ARE ALLOWED TO SPRAY MANURE FROM THEIR 5,000 COW MANURE LAGOONS DIRECTLY ON CROPS THEY SELL TO HUMANS.  Untreated cow shit sprayed directly on your watermelon, tomatoes and strawberries, etc.   So when you sicken from melons it is because you think you do not have to wash fruits and vegetables (with bleach or special solutions).  Stop factory farming of animals.  That is what will improve public health.
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