Ag secretary confident meat is safe

Tag : Beef Meat

SCHUYLER, Neb. -- The U.S. agriculture secretary expressedconfidence in the nation's food safety system, but said the meatprocessing industry will always face challenges because thebacteria that animals carry evolve.
"I don't think we'll ever see a totally bacteria-free environmentin the United States," Ed Schafer said Tuesday during a visit ofseveral Nebraska meat processing plants.
His tour didn't include the Nebraska Beef Ltd. plant in Omaha,which recalled 5.3 million pounds of meat last week that has beenlinked to 41 E. coli infections in Michigan and Ohio.
Schafer said he thinks the company, not the USDA inspectors at theplant, should be held responsible for the tainted meat. He said theinspectors are there only to make sure the plant follows USDArules.
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service concluded last weekthat Nebraska Beef's production practices were insufficient toeffectively control E. coli bacteria.
Now the focus is on determining exactly how the meat wascontaminated at Nebraska Beef, he said, and making sure steps aretaken to prevent future problems.
Schafer's tour was designed to showcase innovative ways companiesare working to keep meat safe. He visited a Hormel pork plant inFremont where the processed, canned meat Spam is made; a CargillMeat Solutions beef plant in Schuyler; and an Omaha Steaksprocessing plant in Omaha.
Schafer said he's amazed at the relatively small number of peoplewho get sick from eating meat each year when the number is comparedto the millions of pounds of meat produced.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimatesthat E. coli sickens about 73,000 people and kills 61 each year inthe United States. Most of those who die have weak immune systems,such as the elderly or very young.
E. coli bacteria were discovered in the late 1970s and are presentin the intestines of most cattle. They also can be found in deer,goats and sheep. They don't cause problems for the livestock, butthe E. coli 0157:H7 variant can cause severe illness in humans.
Industry critics say staff shortages are compounded by a change inUSDA regulations in the late 1990s that gave slaughterhouses moreresponsibility for devising their own safety checklists. Thatpolicy, critics say, places slaughterhouses on an honor system thatcan lead to abuse.
But meat companies say they are developing new strategies tocontrol bacteria.
At the Cargill plant, cattle carcasses are washed down withchemical solutions before and after the hides are removed to helpreduce E. coli.
Later in the process, sides of beef are examined under ultravioletlight that reveals any hint of chlorophyll. The presence of thatplant chemical on the beef suggests contact with feces and possibleE. coli contamination. The beef is pulled aside so any contaminatedareas can be removed.
The hide-washing system and UV scanners Cargill uses are examplesof the measures the meat industry has developed to control E. colisince a 1993 outbreak in which four children died and hundreds ofpeople became ill after eating undercooked hamburgers from Jack inthe Box restaurants.
"Most of this equipment you had to invent, and test and test," saidVaughn Blum, general manager of the Cargill plant.
At Omaha Steaks, all of the ground beef is irradiated after it hasbeen packaged to kill any bacteria that are present.
Hormel uses a high-pressure pasteurization process to ensure thatits pork is safe. That step also takes place after packaging.
But Schafer doesn't think innovative food safety measures such asthe ones he saw in Nebraska should necessarily be required for allplants because companies choose what works for them.
Schafer said the plants he visited all appeared well run and hadsafety as a priority.
"I wish everybody would have a chance to see the process," Schafersaid. Then they could see the cleanliness of the plant and all theeffort that goes into producing a safe product, he said.