Apr 1, 2013 (CIDRAP News) – The auditing office at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is recommending that the agency close certain gaps in its pathogenic Escherhia coli testing program, mainly relating to intact cuts of meat that end up being ground into hamburger or mechanically tenderized.
In a report released Mar 28, the USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) said it found that cuts of meat that are intended to be sold intact are sometimes used by "downstream processors" to make ground beef instead. Such "boxed beef" shipped from slaughterhouses to other processors includes cuts like chuck, round, or sirloin steaks. When intact cuts are not intended for grinding, they are not subject to USDA E coli testing, the report explains.
Any E coli contamination on intact cuts of meat would normally be on the surface and would be destroyed by cooking, the 46-page report notes. But if the meat is ground up, the contamination is mixed in and might survive cooking if the internal temperature of the meat doesn't get high enough. Some processors grind up intact cuts without first testing it for E coli, the report says.
Likewise, some intact cuts of meat are tenderized with blades or needles before sale, and that process can drive surface contaminants inside the meat, where it may survive cooking, the report says. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) does not currently test mechanically tenderized meat for E coli.
The OIG based its findings on field observations at 11 meat-processing plants in five states and on FSIS data from 1,750 facilities. The data came from the FSIS's Public Health Information System (PHIS).
The inspectors checked five downstream processors that tenderized meat for retail or consumers and found that the FSIS didn't test the product at any of them. The report says two outbreaks have been tied to tenderized meat, one of them involving 19 cases in 6 states and necessitating a recall of 248,000 pounds of meat.
The OIG recommended that the FSIS take various steps to eliminate the testing gaps. FSIS officials agreed with all the recommendations, according to the report.
For example, the office recommended that FSIS consider sampling boxed beef products the same way it samples "bench trim" used to make ground beef and that it clarify its instructions for inspectors. The agency said it plans to take those steps.
The FSIS also said it already is taking steps to address risks related to tenderized meat, according to the report. Officials said they have developed a proposed rule, now under review, that would require new labeling for mechanically tenderized beef.
In addition, the agency said it is nearly finished with a non-intact beef risk assessment and a survey of industry practices related to tenderized products. If it finds that such products pose a significant risk, it will make plans for a sampling and testing program, including opportunities for the public to comment. The target date for completing the response to the risk assessment and survey is March 2014.
In related topics, the report says that some retail businesses like grocery stores and butcher shops grind their own ground beef using trimmings from boxed beef and that the FSIS does not test these trimmings. In response to OIG recommendations, the FSIS promised to assess the risks associated with those practices and look at options for testing.
The report notes that the FSIS does have a program for periodically testing the final ground beef products from downstream processors and retail stores before they enter commerce.
In other findings, the OIG said the FSIS had incorrect profile information on some meat processors, which resulted in errors in sampling. For example, one facility's "other ground beef components" were not sampled by the agency for more than 4 years. Also, some facilities had inadequate records for tracing beef products back to the originating slaughter plant, which would cause problems in the event of a recall.
See also:
USDA OIG report "FSIS E coli Testing of Boxed Beef"
