No recall for '04 Salmonella
Untitled
Illness struck some who ate undercooked beef
WASHINGTON (AP)--The U.S. Department of Agriculture stands by its decision not to alert the public about suspect ground beef after a 2004 Salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 31 people nationwide.
A report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that was made public March 8 by food safety advocates said the meat was traced to a single meat processing plant.
USDA spokesman Steven Cohen said March 8 that officials did a full investigation and were prepared to act on any problems at the plant. "We didn't find problems," Cohen said.
Unlike E. coli and listeria, Salmonella in raw meat is not an "adulterant" under federal guidelines because people are expected to cook raw meat before they eat it and cooking kills Salmonella.
Many of those who fell ill said they ate undercooked ground beef or tasted the beef while cooking it.
The CDC report, which did not identify the plant or supermarket chain involved, said the USDA traced illnesses in nine states--Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin--and Washington, D.C.
The department concluded the plant was following federal guidelines.
That's not much comfort for people who got sick, said Carol Tucker Foreman, director of food policy for Consumer Federation of America.
"Nobody died, but 31 people got sick from eating this product, and I can tell you, not one of them thought that it was their best day on earth," Foreman said. "This is not just a bellyache."
Salmonella is a bacteria that causes diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps and in some cases requires hospitalization.
It can be deadly unless infected people are treated right away with antibiotics. Of the estimated 1.4 million cases of Salmonella each year in the United States, about 400 people die, according to CDC.
"They never announced this outbreak," said Donna Rosenbaum of Safe Tables Our Priority. "I would guess there are a number of cases of this that could have been avoided. It ran from August to October, so this was in people's refrigerators and in their freezers."
While the USDA lacks legal authority to recall meat, it can ask companies to do recalls. No company has ever refused a recall request.
The USDA has issued alerts involving salmonella before. For example, a news release last year said that several Salmonella infections in the Midwest were linked to stuffed and breaded frozen chicken entrees. The announcement pointed out the food needed to be fully cooked to be safe.
Alerts have also been issued about drug-resistant forms of the Salmonella bacteria.
"Although Salmonella is not considered an adulterant in raw ground beef, we do a great deal of outreach to help consumers understand how to handle and cook their meat and poultry to avoid chances of becoming ill," Cohen said.
Date: 3/23/06
Agriculture News from HPJ - Your Ag News Source
Copyright/Privacy
Copyright 1995-2008. High
Plains Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Any republishing
of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives
or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or
comments you can reach us at
High Plains Journal
1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801
or call 1-800-452-7171. Email:
webmaster@hpj.com
|
|
