2005 News Archive

E. coli Prevalence Drops By More Than 80 Percent

Beef checkoff programs committed to further reduction

 

DENVER (February 28, 2005) – The beef industry today welcomed news from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) showing a significant drop in E. coli O157:H7 prevalence in 2004, as compared to 2003.

The FSIS data showed that the percentage of E. coli O157:H7 positive ground beef samples collected in 2004 fell by 43.3 percent when compared with the previous year.

The data showed that between 2000 and 2004, the percentage of positive samples of E. coli O157:H7 has declined by more than 80 percent. FSIS also reported that there were six recalls related to E. coli O157:H7 in 2004 compared to 12 in 2003 and 21 in 2002.

“This is very good news for consumers and all sectors of the beef industry,” says Dane Bernard, Beef Industry Food Safety Council (BIFSCo) member and vice-president, Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Keystone Foods.  “We are proud of the coordinated efforts to reduce this pathogen throughout the beef production chain, from farm to kitchen.  It’s great to see such hard work paying off and we will continue toward our goal of further reducing and, if possible, eliminating the threat of E. coli O157:H7.”

The Beef Industry Food Safety Council (BIFSCo), which is funded by beef producers with checkoff dollars, directs a broad effort to solve the E. coli O157:H7 problem, focusing on research, consumer education. BIFSCo has been working toward compiling best practices from across the beef industry, which includes sharing strategies among competitors. The program is coordinated on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). The NCBA serves as one of the Beef Board’s contractors for checkoff-funded programs.

Following the E.coli Summit in January 2003, BIFSCo worked to compile best practices from across the beef industry.  Through this effort, all sectors of the beef industry have worked collectively toward the goal of improving safety – from cow-calf producers and feedlot operators, to packers and processors, to retailers and foodservice providers.  The best practices were completed and distributed throughout the industry.

In addition, checkoff-funded research continues to show promise for interventions such as thermal pasteurization, feed additives and animal and carcass washes that eliminate or reduce pathogen presence.

“For years, our checkoff-funded research efforts have been focused on reducing the incidence of E. coli O157:H7,” said James O. Reagan, Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Knowledge Management, NCBA.  “While there is still a lot of research to be done, it’s exciting to see these figures and know we’re moving in the right direction.”