In the wake of the multiple recent ground beef recalls due to E. coli O157:H7 contamination, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a series of notices designed to help control outbreaks:
Multiple Follow-Up Sampling After FSIS Positive Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) O157:H7 Resultsprovides new instructions for inspection program personnel to test multiple follow-up samples of raw ground beef, raw ground-beef trimmings, and similar raw ground beef components in response to an FSIS or other Federal or State entity’s positive E. coli O157:H7 result. The multiple follow-up samples are needed because data from 2000 through 2005 shows that plants are more likely to have a second positive sample if they have had a positive of E. coli O157:H7sample within the preceding 120 days.
Notice of Reassessment for Escherichia Coli O157:H7 Control and Completion of a Checklist for All Beef Operations informs inspection-program personnel about several significant developments involving E. coli O157:H7 in beef products that occurred since April, the beginning of the high prevalence season for the pathogen. These developments raise questions about the adequacy of the interventions and controls that beef operations (which are defined as establishments that slaughter, fabricate, grind, mechanically tenderize, or enhance by tumbling, massaging, or injecting beef products such as with marinades) have in place to address this problem. Due to the rapid increase in problems, FSIS believes it is likely that most establishments are not aware of the full extent of the problems and have not considered the implications of these developments for their Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems.
This notice summarizes these significant developments and instructs inspection program personnel to meet with the establishment, review the developments and advise the establishment that these developments constitute changes that could affect the establishment’s hazard analysis or cause the establishment to alter its HACCP plan. Inspectors are also directed to complete an online checklist on how the establishment addresses E. coli O157:H7 and identifies a set of best practice measures.
Scheduling Food Safety Assessments and Intensified Verification Testing clarifies when district office personnel are to schedule Enforcement, Investigations, and Analysis Officers to conduct food-safety assessments and intensified verification testing when a positive pathogen result during FSIS product testing occurs.
