Meat Recalls Foster Consumer Caution And Doubt About The Safety Of Beef

By Nancy K. Crevier

According to the Food and Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), a public health agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, a recall is a voluntary action by a manufacturer or distributor to protect the public from products that may cause health problems.

There were three instances of ground beef products recalled nationally this November. They were three of nearly two dozen recalls in 2007 of millions of pounds of ground beef and ground beef products alone suspected of harboring E. coli, a bacteria that causes severe cramps and diarrhea, and which can be deadly to the infirm. Most E. coli infections come from eating undercooked meat, contaminated water, drinking unpasteurized milk, or from working with cattle.

The FSIS lists many other recalls for reasons other than E. coli. Listeria, a bacteria found in water and soil and carried by animals; salmonella, a bacteria traced back to poultry, meat, and dairy product infections; c. botulinum, a powerful toxin found in inadequately processed foods; possible allergens; metal contamination; and other adulterations prompt recalls of dairy foods, poultry products, and other meats and foods.

But as the year draws to a close, The USDA is looking into why the incidences of E. coli contamination tests have increased from the 0.17 percent positive rate in the years 2004, 2005, and 2006 to 0.22 percent this year. While noting that it is a very small percentage of the billions of ground beef processed every year, Amanda Eamich, press officer for the FSIS, said that the government is trying to determine what can be done to reduce those positive test rates.

In a teleconference released October 23, the FSIS announced new and upcoming actions, including expanded testing and more rapid recalls to protect public health against E. coli.  “We are trying to identify if there are [meat] plants that need a more in-depth look at their practices, for one thing, and since March the USDA has been testing beef trim for E. coli and testing other components that were not tested before, such as head meat, cheek meat, the lining of the esophagus,” Ms Eamich gave as examples.

The question of how frequently meat is inspected at slaughterhouses and packing plants has been raised periodically by concerned consumer health watch groups like Food & Water Watch out of Washington, D.C., and various news reports, including one from CBS earlier in February that questioned legislation buried in the 2007 farm bill that would reduce required federal inspections for meat produced by small companies.

“Currently, FSIS has appropriated funding for an additional 100 in-plant inspection personnel. The number of federal inspection program personnel assigned to the facility depends on its slaughter volume,” said Ms Eamich in a recent e-mail to The Newtown Bee, “which is spelled out in our Code of Federal Regulations [CFR].” According to text from Section 310.1 of the CFR, section (b) (1), ‘The staffing standards on the basis of the number of carcasses to be inspected per hour are outlined in the following tables.’ The tables indicate, for example, that for 87 to 143 head of steers or heifers slaughtered per hour, two inspectors each are required to inspect the head and viscera of each animal. One inspector is required to inspect the carcass. The same ratio of inspectors is required for between 82 and 134 head of cows or bulls slaughtered per hour.”

Even with daily on-going inspections of meat and poultry, though, E. coli contamination occurs. E. coli occurs naturally in the gut of cattle, said Ms Eamich. What the USDA strives to do is eliminate the possibility of that bacteria migrating from the gut to the flesh being processed.

Special washes are used to hose down sides of beef after slaughter, to prevent the spread of E. coli contamination. Even so, as is evident by the increasing number of recalls this year, contaminated meat manages to reach the consumer.

That people are uninformed and uneducated about the meat they eat is a concern of the Food & Water Watch (F&WW). It takes issue with the addition of antibiotics and hormones to food, and to the use of irradiation in place of more sanitary conditions for livestock, as well as the lack of labeling that informs consumers how meat has been treated for sale. Literature provided by the group states that “The problem is, no long-term studies on the safety of irradiated food exist. And the food industry opposes serious, independent study.”

F&WW also notes, “Reports of recalled meat and poultry are in the news more and more each day. But when the US Department of Agriculture [USDA] announces a meat or poultry recall, they don’t have to tell you which retailers carry the contaminated product.” Although the government provides the plant code that produced the meat, the product codes, and a picture of what the item might look like, F&WW does not feel this is enough information for consumers. They are proposing that the USDA also include retailer information to recall notices.

Retail customers concerned about a recall and unsure of the source of raw meats sold in the supermarket should ask the store manager, Ms Eamich suggested, or call the FSIS meat and poultry hotline for details at 800-674-6854. Retail consumers can also direct questions to mphotline.fsis@usda.gov.

One local rancher and a nationally published author contends, however, that the conditions under which cattle are raised and cycled through concentrated animal feeding operations lend themselves to the spread of disease.

The Journey Of One Steer

In Michael Pollan’s bestselling book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, he details the journey of one steer from the pasture in which he frolicked for just the first six months of his life to his final days in one of the densely packed confined animal feed operations (CAFOs), where the majority of food animals end up in this country. Aside from being fed a corn-based diet unnatural to a steer, other acceptable additions to cattle feed include chicken, fish, and pig bonemeal, chicken litter, and feather meal. Likewise, Federal Drug Administration laws allow blood products and fat to be fed to cattle, resulting in the steer quite possibly dining on “beef tallow recycled from the very slaughterhouse he’s heading to in June,” writes Mr Pollan.

He goes on to say, “Some public health experts worry that since the bovine meat and bonemeal that cows used to eat is now being fed to chickens, pigs, and fish, infectious prions could find their way back into cattle when they’re fed the protein of the animals that have been eating them.”

Drawing upon the expertise of cattle ranchers and various published sources, Mr Pollan asserts that the reason more cases of infectious diseases being passed along do not occur is that huge amounts of antibiotics are also introduced into a feedlot animal’s diet.

The antibiotics may reduce the amount of E. coli in the gut of the animal, but it is quite likely those antibiotics continue on in the food chain; that is, on to the human consumer. “We inhabit the same microbial ecosystem as the animals we eat, and whatever happens in it, also happens in us,” writes Mr Pollan.

The final days of a steer include wading ankle deep and sleeping in a pile of manure, Mr Pollan discovered in a visit to a feedlot. While switching the animals for just a few days prior to slaughter to a natural, grass diet, stomach acidity in a steer can be returned to a state that “reduces the population of E. coli O157:H7 in the animal’s gut by as much as 80 percent,” he writes. But deemed impractical and not cost-effective to do so, the USDA’s “preferred solution for dealing with bacterial contamination is irradiation, essentially, to try to sterilize the manure getting into the meat.”

‘Cows Are Made To Eat Grass’

Bridgewater cattle farmer Bill Stuart expressed the same concerns. “Cows are made to eat grass. When they are forced to eat an unnatural diet, such as the corn diet that is now fed to most of the cattle raised for food, the pH level in the rumen [a part of the cow’s four-part stomach] is lowered and the stomach becomes acidic. The deadlier E. coli O157:H7 strand thrives in that environment. That is why big farms have to feed so many antibiotics to the cattle. Normally, the pH in the rumen of a pasture-fed cow is neutral,” he explained.

The herd of cattle raised at the Stuart Family Farm lead a far more idyllic life and are all pasture fed, as cows are meant to be, said Mr Stuart, who has been in the natural meat business for five years. He processes approximately 120 head of cattle annually, or about 45,000–50,000 pounds of saleable meat that he sells commercially to local restaurants and stores, as well as directly to residential clients.

Following his graduation from UConn’s Agricultural School, Mr Stuart did spend a number of years working at a large meat company before returning to the family farm. The tide of concern about where and how meat is produced and his own experiences in a large feedlot operation convinced him that smaller, localized farming was best not only for the animals, but for the humans that consume that meat, as well.

 “My biggest fear is that instead of solving the problem [of E. coli contamination] at its root, the industry will just irradiate meat,” said Mr Stuart. “The company I worked at before coming back to Bridgewater actually had built a big irradiation facility in anticipation that meat is going to soon be irradiated on a regular basis,” he said.

The incidences of E. coli O157:H7 could be greatly reduced, Mr Stuart believes, by giving cattle the grass-based diets they need for a healthy gut. “Changing that [corn-based] diet or the conditions in which cattle are raised [in CAFOs] would have to be a monumental change, but it would have a big effect on the health of our food,” Mr Stuart said.

Without changes at the source, it seems that every year billions more pounds of beef and beef products will continue to remain at risk of E. coli contamination. Millions of pounds  of meat will continue to be recalled each year. But what happens to those millions of pounds of E. coli contaminated meat that are recalled?

“It can go to a couple of places,” said Ms Eamich. “A company can incinerate a product or send it to a landfill or to a rendering facility, which breaks down the product into parts like the protein and fats.” The rendered products are not allowed to return to the human food cycle, said Ms Eamich, but it can be used in animal foods.

The recalling firm may tell the customer to destroy the contaminated meat on site, to send it back, or  will send a truck to retrieve the product and take it out of production, she said.

“The FSIS does a disposition check to make sure the recalled product was disposed of in a manner that is safe, and the company must retain records of the recall,” said Ms Eamich.

A Loophole In The Law

Consumers may, however, be downing meat that has tested positive for E. coli, due to a loophole in the law. Raw meat that tests positive for E. coli will either be destroyed — or cooked, Ms Eamich said. A “cook only” designation allows meat contaminated with E. coli to be cooked by the producer and used in items that contain cooked meat. “The E. coli bacteria is destroyed at 160 degrees,” said Ms Eamich, making the millions more pounds of beef that would otherwise be destroyed a usable commodity.

“I want to be clear, though,” Ms Eamich went on to say, “that any raw product that tests positive for E. coli cannot be used, raw or cooked, in any national feeding program. None of the national feeding programs, including schools, can purchase this meat.” She was unable to say in which products exactly the cooked meat is used, and a query to the American Meat Industry went unanswered.

“I have had steady growth in my business in just five years,” said Bill Stuart. “I think it is not only a food safety issue for people, but that people want locally grown, humanely raised meat.” And while he praised the efforts by government to identify different points in meat production where food safety is critical and to address them, he said, “You have to remember, that an inspection is  only as good as the people doing it.”

It is up to meat producers and the government to see that E. coli contaminated beef products do not reach the retail level, but consumers can take steps to make sure that the meat they purchase and serve at home is safe to eat. The USDA offers these tips for safe beef handling:

Select beef just before checking out at the register. Put packages of raw beef in disposable plastic bags, if available, to contain any leakage that could cross-contaminate cooked foods or produce.

Take beef home immediately and refrigerate it at 40°F; use within three to five days (one or two days for variety meats such as liver, kidneys, tripe, sweetbreads, or tongue) or freeze (0°F). If kept frozen continuously, it will be safe indefinitely.

It is safe to freeze beef in its original packaging or repackage it. For long-term freezing, overwrap the porous store plastic with aluminum foil, freezer paper, or freezer-weight plastic wrap or bags to prevent “freezer burn,” which appears as grayish-brown leathery spots and is caused by air reaching the surface of food. For best quality, use steaks and roasts within 9 to 12 months.

The USDA recommends three safe ways to defrost beef: in the refrigerator, in cold water, and in the microwave. Never defrost raw beef on the counter or in other locations. To defrost in the refrigerator allow bone-in parts or whole roasts two days or more. Once the raw beef defrosts, it will be safe in the refrigerator for three to five days before cooking. During this time, if you decide not to use the beef, you can safely refreeze it without cooking it first.

To defrost beef in cold water, do not remove packaging. Be sure the package is airtight or put it into a leakproof bag. Submerge the beef in cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes so that it continues to thaw. Small packages of beef may defrost in an hour or less; a three- to four-pound roast may take two to three hours.

When microwave defrosting beef, plan to cook it immediately after thawing because some areas of the food may become warm and begin to cook during microwaving.

For safety, the USDA recommends cooking hamburgers and ground beef mixtures such as meat loaf to 160°F on a meat thermometer. Whole muscle meats such as steaks and roasts may, however, be cooked to 145°F (medium rare), 160°F (medium), or 170°F (well done).

For more detailed information on safe meat handling, visit fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Beef_from_Farm_to _Table/index.