US E. Coli Discoveries In Ground Beef Increase In 2008 -USDA
4:08 PM, October 31, 2008
By Bill Tomson
Of DOW JONES
NEWSWIRES
Agriculture Online
WASHINGTON (Dow
Jones)--Discoveries of the deadly e. coli bacteria in
ground
beef during routine testing around
the country have increased since 2007,
although the reason may simply be
that tests are now more sensitive, according
to U.S. Department of Agriculture
data and officials.
New data posted this
week on USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Web site show
that 0.45% of tests done on raw
ground beef from January through Oct. 19 in
roughly the same time period last
year it was 0.21% positive.
There is no reason
to conclude that e. coli poisoning is more prevalent
now
than a year ago, USDA Food Safety
and Inspection Service Administrator Al
Almanza told Dow Jones Newswires
on Friday. He said the most likely reason
behind the increase in positive
test results is that new testing technology is
better at detecting the bacteria's
presence in ground beef.
Felicia Nestor, a
senior policy analyst for the consumer protection group
Food & Water Watch, said more sensitive tests could
indeed be the explanation
but that the USDA needs to find out
for sure.
But if it is simply
a matter of more effective testing, Nestor said, the
higher e. coli numbers are proof
that contamination is a more widespread
problem than previously believed.
"No one is
suggesting that number is inaccurate," Nestor said about the 0.45%
positive rate for 2008 testing.
"The one thing we do know is that there's more
(e. coli contamination) than we previously
thought."
-By Bill Tomson, Dow Jones Newswires
agriculture.com