USDA SEEKS REMEDIES TO MEAT SAFETY

ROBERT VOSBURGH

WASHINGTON -- Stung by criticism regarding its notification policy in the wake of the massive ConAgra ground beef recall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture asked consumer groups and the meat industry to weigh in with suggestions for tightening the agency's oversight of food safety.

The suggestions were solicited during the second of new, monthly outreach meetings the USDA holds with various groups, according to Steve Cohen, spokesman for the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

"There was a lot of give and take about what additional steps might be needed to protect the food system," he said. "It would be fair to say, from their point of view, that they want to see more testing."

After meeting privately with USDA officials, consumer advocates, quoted in printed reports, said the agency should require meat companies to install new technology that's better able to eliminate harmful pathogens.

"It's shocking how many holes in the safety net there are," said Tony Carbo, senior policy analyst for the Government Accountability Project.

Cohen said the government can do more testing, but such programs are not a solution.

"We have to focus on a way to kill E. coli, not just find it, because no matter how often you test, it only [examines] a sample of a much larger unit," he told SN. "So you can never be certain you have found it. ConAgra probably [tests] 25% of the lots of meat that go out on any given day. Our random testing programs [currently] don't do that much in a single plant, and even though ConAgra was testing 25% of the lots, obviously their intervention system failed because we had an outbreak."

Some public advocates said USDA is even considering mandating irradiation of meat for certain plants that do not have intervention programs designed to control infectious, foodborne organisms. ConAgra, the largest beef processor in the United States, has extensive intervention steps, including acid washing, said Cohen.

"Grinding plants are going to be getting more attention [from inspectors] if they do not have intervention steps, or they don't require them from suppliers," said Cohen.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Denver, supports irradiation of red meat and has urged the agency to include it in developing future regulations, according to Leah Becker, the association's associate director of food policy.

"We're looking at what research has been done, and what gaps there may have been in that research," she said, noting NCBA plans to issue its own set of safety recommendations to the USDA by year's end.

As part of its response to the ConAgra recall, FSIS has distributed questionnaires to various groups and industry officials requesting their input as to whether current testing protocols are adequate, and whether the government should be implementing other safeguards that could have prevented the July event.

Nearly 19 million pounds of fresh and frozen ground beef were recalled nationwide, after sickening at least 28 people with E. coli 0157:H7.

USDA officials were quick to announce a policy change that would speed up supplier notification, after reports surfaced that investigators waited 10 days before telling ConAgra its Greeley, Colo., plant was the source of the contamination.

In a related development, the FSIS has a new leader. Dr. Garry L. McKee, director and cabinet secretary of the Wyoming Department of Health since 1999, and a former public health official with the state of Oklahoma, was appointed administrator of the FSIS. His appointment was announced in the midst of last month's media flurry about ConAgra Beef's expanded beef recall.