FSIS expands inspection efforts following E. coli spike

Boosting follow-up testing

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service is increasing follow-up sampling and food safety assessments at ground beef production plants after a spike in E. coli O157:H7 recalls during June and July, according to Kenneth Petersen, FSIS assistant administrator to the Office of Field Operations.
"In July and August, to determine if [the spike] was random, we doubled our E. coli samples from 1,000 a month to 2,000 a month. Routine inspections have turned up 16 positives, as of July 31, for E. coli compared to 20 positives during all of 2006.

The agency will also be increasing its follow-up efforts when a plant tests positive for E. coli. For plants that grind more than 1,000 pounds of beef per day, a positive sample will trigger 16 follow-up samples (one to two per week), plus a food-safety assessment of the facility's entire food-safety system. Eight follow-up samples will be taken at plants that grind less than 1,000 pounds per day.
The agency is also starting to take a closer look at blade or mechanically tenderized steaks and roasts that are needle-tenderized. "Our main interest is in needle-injected tenderizing, as it can introduce E. coli," he said, adding the agency is in the process of considering how to best verify these processes.
Looking for Listeria monocytogenes
FSIS is also increasing its random testing for L monocytogenes at plants that make ready-to-eat meat products. From 14,000 total samples taken last year, about 0.5 percent tested positive for, however, additional intensified testing at plants that tested positive has shown that population of plants has a much higher rate of 4.0 percent positives.
"The message here is, if you get a random positive, you need to take a critical look at your processes, as I will surely be right behind you, and you might as well fix your problems before I tell you to," he said.
FSIS is also doubling its random "not for cause" testing for listeria in product and the environment. Petersen said the agency since the spring is testing at a rate of 200 plants per year, up from 100 such tests last year.

Source: USDA, FSIS

Aporte: Guillermo Figueroa