FSIS Announces Redesign of E. coli O157:H7 Verification Testing Program for Beef Manufacturing Trimmings

USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has posted a notice in the Federal Register of its intention to redesign its E. coli O157:H7 verification testing program for beef manufacturing trimmings to make the program more risk-based and to enable FSIS to calculate on-going statistical prevalence estimates for E. coli O157:H7 in raw beef manufacturing trimmings. FSIS will also conduct a beef carcass baseline survey to determine the presence and levels of the pathogenic E. coli, including O157:H7 and the six non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) most commonly associated with illness in the United States; Salmonella species; and certain indicator organisms. The new plans have been developed in response to a 2011 audit by USDA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) of  FSIS's protocol for N-60 sampling of beef manufacturing trimmings for E. coli O157:H7.