The focus by most of us this year has been on implementation of the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) non-O157 STEC sampling, currently scheduled to begin for beef trim on June 4th.
On March 5, 2012, the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) adulteration decision on the top six non-O157 STECs (pathogenic STEC, or pSTEC) is due to become effective for raw, non-intact beef products made from cattle slaughtered on or after that date.
With E. coli O157:H7, more tests are conducted each year. Thankfully, the vast majority of the results have been negative, but there are still positive findings.
In a Federal Register Notice published Sept. 20, 2011, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that six shiga toxin producing E. coli serogroups — O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145 (hereinafter STEC) — are adulterants on raw, non-intact beef product or components in the same manner as E. coli O157:H7.
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.
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.
Everyone has heard the saying, “What you don’t know can hurt you.” If you make frozen, not ready-to-eat products, especially for household consumers, my question for you is, “How well does your product achieve lethality temperatures in the consumer’s home?”
