Like the proverbial lineman whose number is only called when he commits a penalty, industry seldom gets any accolades for its efforts to produce safe food.
Last month, industry finally got some recognition for its efforts to control E. coli O157:H7. CDC issued its final Healthy People 2010 Report. The goal of Healthy People 2010 was to reduce by 50% the incidence of foodborne illnesses caused by certain pathogens. This was only met for one pathogen, E. coli O157:H7. The 2010 goal was met overall, and in 2004, 2009 and 2010. CDC included industry efforts as contributing factors in this reduction: “cleaner slaughter methods, microbial testing and better inspections in ground-beef processing plants.”
The entire report is at: http://1.usa.gov/mTqovy. So to each and every person in the beef industry, I wish to extend my sincere congratulations and thanks. It truly took a team effort to have achieved this reduction on a raw product.