Safety before Slaughter

Summary:

E. coli is one of the most common bacteria for food poisoning. About 76 million people get food poisoning each year in United State, out of which 1.4% is from E. coli 0157:H7. Beef contamination is one of the biggest E. coli contaminations. It is extremely challenging for the manufacturing companies to eliminate E. coli form beef. So far this year 40,000 pounds of beef has been recalled due to E. coli contamination. Last year about 2.7 million beef was recalled.

There is really big push by USDA to agriculture industries to lower rate of E. coli and other pathogens in the beef. The Agriculture industry has been trying new technologies and methods to eliminate E. coli. One of the commonly used techniques includes Carcass Steam Pasteurization, physical removal of E. coli by 180-degree spray, and Vinegar rinse. The industry is trying to eliminate E. coli before cattle are brought to the slaughter house, in the farm. Industry is looking forward 5 new methods which have not been approved by USDA yet.
1. Vaccines: Vaccines lower E. coli 0157:H7 in cattle’s gut. USDA has approved Epitopix and it is being tested in USA.
2. Phage: Phage is viruses that are harmless to humans and cattle. Phages bind to specific receptors on E. coli and kill E. coli. Phage using is not new to Agriculture industry; there are phages that are sprayed on tomatoes and peppers to kill spotting bacteria.
3. Probiotics: It is a culture of bacteria, like in yogurt, that are mixed with cattle food. These bacteria are harmless to cattle and out compete with E. coli.
4. Sodium Chlorate: Bacteria in cattle’s gut obtain energy form nitrogen since there is no oxygen provided. E. coli cannot differentiate between chlorate and nitrogen and sometime they use chlorate, if there is any chlorate present. This turns chlorate into bleach and kills E. coli from inside without harming the cattle.
5. Grain vs. high-quality hay: some slaughter house give high quality hay before slaughter to reduce the E. coli 0157:H7 rate. But the results have always been varying.
One of the biggest question is who could afford this? These new techniques are not cheap. And if eliminating E. coli cost more than manufacturing who would like to invest.