The presence of Salmonella in beef products and development of methods to prevent that presence have been focal points for all sectors of the beef industry in recent years.
Recent reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate 1.2 million cases of salmonellosis occur annually in the United States, of which approximately 42,000 are laboratory-confirmed. In a recent interagency food-safety report, outbreak surveillance data were used to categorize attribution estimates by food source. Of 17 attribution categories, 77 percent of model-estimated illnesses were attributed to: seeded vegetables (18 percent), eggs (12 percent), fruits (12 percent), chicken (10 percent), sprouts (8 percent), beef (9 percent) and pork (8 percent). Specifically, 47 outbreaks and 1,473 illnesses caused by Salmonellawere attributed to beef products.