ALBANY, N.Y.—Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) announced Oct 13 that she is authoring the E. Coli Eradication Act that will mandate greater E. coli inspections of ground beef and improve the accessibility of recall information. The bill also would include appropriate penalties for companies that fail to implement testing mechanisms at their facilities.
As reported by Meatingplace, the new legislation would require all plants that process ground beef to test their products regularly before it is ground and again before it is combined with other beef or ingredients, such as spices, and packaged. If ground beef is found to be contaminated, the bill requires the company to properly dispose of the contaminated batch, or cook the meat to a temperature that destroys the E. coli.