Food Safety from Producer to Plate: Part 1- E. coli in Beef

We talk a lot around here about what processors can do to improve food safety.  That's where most of the inspection is and that's where it is possible to put in the controls to eliminate food borne illness (FBI).

However, one of the main reasons why the processors need to put in these controls is because their supply comes in contaminated.  Animals and plants grown on a farm harbor pathogens.  Nothing we can do about it.  Biological systems are complex and we are never going to eliminate pathogens from our food completely.  Nor do I think should it be a goal to eliminate them, because these microbes exist for a reason.  They work in the soil and they work on an animals gut to aid digestion.  We find trouble when microbes are in the wrong place, occur in much too high a concentration, or occur at the wrong time.

As our local food movement moves forward, producers needs to know about the various pathogens of FBI that occur in their livestock and what they can do about them on the farm.  A lot of times this stuff is obvious, but, putting in FBI controls at the farm can save a lot of headache down the road.

So with that said, today's post is the first in DQMs "Producers to Plate" series!  And we are going to start to tackle E.coli from the viewpoint of what a livestock rancher can do to control it.

First, what is  E. coli?  E. coli is a group of bacteria that live in the large intestine of warm blooded animals.  E. coli, like other bacteria, isn't a problem unless it is too high in number, or in the wrong place. E. coli can use the flagellum to migrate out of the gut of an animal and "walk" itself to an aberrant site like the urinary tract causing a UTI.  E. coli contamination of an udder can cause mastitis by the same mechanism.  The bacteria gets where it shouldn't be, has a lot of nutrients and no bacteria to compete against, and POW, infection.

In the food supply, we worry about E. coli because it can cause very serious FBI, like hemolytic uremic syndrome.  Though cases of E. coli are going down the CDC estimates that there are 26 cases not reported.  So we have a lot of people not being diagnosed.  Which means there's no traceback to where the illness might have come from.

However, livestock ranchers can help protect their product by taking some steps to decrease E. coli in their herds.  Also, implementing these can help to protect a rancher's family from E. coli, as it is also a zoonotic disease.

Vaccinate the herd against E. coli
Feed probiotics with Lactobacillus (like Bovamine)
Test for supershedders and cull them (and not into the food supply)
Make sure the cattle are clean before slaughter.  Work with your processor and find out what his/her plan is for killing clean animals.  Preventing hide contamination of meat can not be over estimated.  This should be one of the pre-req programs (or part of a pre-req program) the processor has.

This

Not this

As the CDC has indicated, E. coli contamination is a battle we are actually making headway against.  The local food movement has a great opportunity here to make sure that our consumers have access to meat that's as free of E. coli as possible.  It will drive confidence and sales.

What does the OIG report mean?

Well, as the wheels of governance turn, the OIG has audited how FSIS tests beef trim for grinding.

BLUF: "The Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that the Food Safety 
Inspection Service (FSIS) needs to re-evaluate its E. coli testing 
methodology, as it relates to the downstream processing of boxed beef 
products. FSIS tests product designated as ground beef or likely to 
become ground beef, but they do not sample all boxed beef product. 
Some downstream processors grind such boxes of unsampled cuts of 
beef without sampling it for E. coli prior to grinding. Similarly, 
“retail exempt establishments”—grocery stores, butcher shops, etc.—
potentially grind their own ground beef; but unlike Federally 
inspected plants, FSIS does not sample and test bench trim at these 
establishments for E. coli. FSIS does have a program for periodically 
testing the final ground beef products at downstream processors and 
retail exempt establishments before it enters commerce. Also, FSIS is 
not testing tenderized meat products for E. coli despite several recent 
recalls."

So, there are a few gaps.  FSIS tests the beef trim that's obviously going for grinding, but it doesn't always test boxed beef that can end up being ground.

Raise your hand if you work at an establishment that grinds boxed beef.  Yep, that's a lot of you.

Directive 10010.1 sounds like it was a big target of this audit.

Which means, small USDA inspected producers, get ready for more testing.  Make sure your supplier program is pristine.  Are you keeping track of where that boxed beef is coming from?  Do you have a really good lotting system? If you get the boxed beef from a broker, it is going to behoove you to trace that beef trim back to the original source.

And for heavens sake, if you are tenderizing beef test your needles, test the tubing and keep really good records.  Because FSIS is probably going to be taking a really close look at what you are doing.  Nobody wants and OIG report out there, even on a Friday afternoon, that says you aren't fulfilling your primary mission.

PS- BLUF is Army speak for Bottom Line Up Front.