Last month, I wrote about how industry has managed to virtually eliminate E. coliO157:H7 from our beef supply. Indeed, in the last two years, there have been only a handful of recalls relating to E. coli, and none were associated with foodborne illnesses or outbreaks.
During that same period, however, the meat industry announced nearly 50 recalls (involving nearly 1 million pounds of product) for the presence of undeclared allergens. On its face, it would appear that allergens have now officially replaced harmful pathogens as the primary driver of FSIS recalls.