The recent outbreak of gastroenteritis from E. coli received extensive coverage because it led to the closing of a large meat-processing plant and the recall of some 25 million pounds of beef. There was little discussion, however, about where this new, dangerous bacterium comes from.
There is an alarming increase in gastroenteritis underway in the U.S. with the emergence of sometimes lethal new strains of bacteria. In addition to this new E. coli, salmonella enteritidis and campylobacter have arrived during the past decade as leading causes of food poisoning.
If we are going to reverse the trend to more illnesses and deaths from these bacteria, we must know where they come from. The environmental reservoir for these new germs is now in farm animal populations: cattle, particularly dairy cattle, for the E. coli; egg-laying flocks for the salmonella; and broilers for the campylobacter. There will be no reduction in the prevalence of these pathogens until measures are put into place to control them in the animals on the farms.
After the well-known E. coli outbreak in the Pacific Northwest in 1993, the USDA started developing a new food-safety program, From Farm to Table. While this language remains in most government planning documents, testing and control measures actually implemented or proposed to date take effect after the animals leave the farms. When contaminated animals arrive for slaughter, it’s too late to prevent them from contaminating the plants and any clean product present. The USDA talks “farm to table” but doesn’t propose actual farm controls because the livestock and poultry producers fear condemnations and lost sales.
Once again the USDA is caught in the bind of a dual mission: assisting producers and protecting consumers. Regrettably this bind may not be broken until the numbers of illnesses and deaths rise to even higher levels.
