Click on text below to see the vid

Test EVERY Cow in the Food Chain

Test EVERY Cow in the Food Chain
Like Other Countries Do

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

USDA' Offical Admits: Protectionist "Food Safety" Policies Trump Public Health


With all the food recalls in the news lately, the big question on everyones mind is "WHY isn't the USDA doing more to test for contaminated foods prior to the products being offered to the public for sale?" And " WHY doesnt the USDA impose stricter regulations or require a vigious testing system?" Not suprisingly, most people arent even aware of the fact that the USDA does not even have the power of recall! It is up to the producers and processors to volunteer that info to the public. Due to the self-regulatory nature of these industries, you can see why they would be hesitant to report or recall any of their products as "unsafe," - nothing causes sales (and profits) to drop quicker than a product recall. When they do recall, it is usually done because they have no choice, ..people start to sicken and/or die and independant investigations begin.  In these cases, it is "report yourselves" or eventually be found out by the feds. The awful truth came out awhile back when a top USDA  Official spilled the beans in a public forum, and you can read all about his startling revelations here, in the link below,...regarding another case of a bad-meat recall that happened last year;
http://exposingfdanusda.blogspot.com/2010/05/usda-offical-tells-truth-for-change.html

After you have read the article in the link, be sure to read the latest update from Pro-Med (below) on the recent Cargill / BJs ground beef recall, and be sure to note the large, embolded text in red and you will find an example of USDA protecting distributors.

* And a note on the modern trend of "growing" beef. Since when do we "grow" beef?  In my day, you RAISED meat animals and grew crops. Why the switch? Think "PR" or "SPIN"

E. COLI VTEC NON-O157 - USA (07): O26, GROUND BEEF, ALERT, RECALL


*****************************************************************

A ProMED-mail post



ProMED-mail is a program of the

International Society for Infectious Diseases

Date: Sat 28 Aug 2010

Source: CNN [edited]

Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. has recalled about 8500 pounds of ground

beef that may be contaminated with E. coli, the U.S. Department of

Agriculture announced Sat 28 Aug 2010. The move came after 3 people,

2 in Maine and 1 in New York, were identified as becoming ill from a

strain of _E. coli_, the government said.

None of the 3 required hospitalization, said Cargill Inc. spokesman

Mike Martin.

The USDA says it believes certain BJ's Wholesale Club stores in

Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York and Virginia received the products. The recalled

ground beef was shipped on 11 Jun 2010 to distribution centers, where

it was repackaged into consumer-size packages and sold under different

retail brand names. The USDA did not identify the brands.

The recalled beef bears the USDA establishment number "EST. 9400," a

product code of "W69032" and a "use/freeze by" date of 1 Jul 2010.

The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Services, which said it became

aware of the problem on 5 Aug 2010, "determined that there is an

association between the ground beef products subject to recall and the

cluster of illnesses in the states of Maine and New York."

Saturday's statement identified the strain as _E. coli_ 026, which can

cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and, in severe cases, kidney failure.

The government "strongly encourages consumers to check their freezers

and immediately discard any product subject to this recall."

The government lists the recall as Class 1, meaning "there is a

reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious,

adverse health consequences or death."
--
Communicated by:

ProMED-mail Rapporteur Brent Barrett

This outbreak once again underscores the relevance of non-O157 strains

of verotoxin-producing _E. coli_. Other _E. coli_ serogroups that have

been associated with VTEC (verotoxin-producing _E. coli_) disease

include motile ones such as O26:H11 and O104:H21 and non-motile ones

such as O111:NM (or H-). Such non-O157 isolates can be obtained from

sheep and cattle and, although they cause as many as 30 percent of

outbreaks of VTEC (1), appear to be somewhat less (or at least more

variably) virulent in a variety of in vivo and in vitro assays (2-4).

In analyzing the genetic and phenotypic profiles of non-O157 groups,

it has been found that they belong to their own lineages and have

unique profiles of virulence traits different from O157 (5). The

serogroups appearing to be most prominent are O26, O111, O128, and

O103 (6), the former serotype being the implicated strain in this

outbreak.

If a laboratory is using sorbitol-MacConkey (sMAC) plates to identify

VTEC by virtue of O157's inability to ferment sorbitol, the non-O157

strains will be missed. In a 3-year pediatric study from the

University of Washington, USA (7), 1851 stool samples were processed

for sorbitol fermentation as well as toxin production by EIA (enzyme

immunoassay), and 28 strains of O157 were found along with O103 (4

strains), O118 (2 strains), O111 (2 strains), and 3 other strains.

Clinically, the O157 infections had a higher frequency of bloody

stools, fecal leukocytes, and abdominal pain with shorter symptom

duration. Five (18 percent) of O157 infections developed HUS; none of

the non-O157 strains did. Since toxin assay did not identify all O157

strains found on sMAC plates, the investigators did not advocate

performing toxin assay alone. Non-O157 can produce hemolytic-uremic

syndrome, as demonstrated by a cluster of O121 cases associated with a

lake in Connecticut, USA (8).

Since toxin assays are not uniformly performed in many areas, and most

cases do not produce HUS, it is likely that cases due to non-O157

strains are being missed. How frequent this phenomenon will become

over time is unclear.

Because of the higher risk of morbidity and mortality in VTEC

infections treated with antimicrobials (9), antimicrobials should not

used for known acute cases.

References

----------

1. Hussain HS, Omaye ST: Introduction to the food safety concerns of

verotoxin-producing _Escherichia coli_. Exp Biol Med 2003; 228(4):

331-2; available at.

2. Blanco J, Blanco M, Blanco JE, et al: Verotoxin-producing

_Escherichia coli_ in Spain: prevalence, serotypes, and virulence

genes of O157:H7 and non-O157 VTEC in ruminants, raw beef products,

and humans. Exp Biol Med 2003; 228: 345-51; available at.

3. Law D, Kelly J: Use of heme and hemoglobin by _Escherichia coli_

O157 and other Shiga-toxin-producing _E. coli_ serogroups. Infect

Immun 1995; 63(20): 700-2; available at.

4. Tzipori S, Wachsmuth KI, Smithers J, Jackson C: Studies in

gnotobiotic piglets on non-O157:H7 _Escherichia coli_ serotypes

isolated from patients with hemorrhagic colitis. Gastroenterology

1988; 94(3): 590-7; abstract available at.

5. Schmidt H, Geitz C, Tarr PI, et al: Non-O157:H7 pathogenic

Shiga-toxin producing _Escherichia coli_: phenotypic and genetic

profiling of virulence traits and evidence for clonality. J Infect Dis

1999; 179(1): 115-23; available at.

6. Bettelheim KA: Role of non-O157 VTEC. Symp Ser Soc Appl Microbiol

2000; (29): 38S-50S; abstract available at.

7. Klein EJ, Stapp JR, Calusen CR, et al: Shiga toxin-producing

_Escherichia coli_ in children with diarrhea: a prospective

point-of-care study. J Pediatr 2002; 141(2): 172-7; available at.

8. McCarthy TA, Barrett NL, Hadler JL, et al: Hemolytic-uremic

syndrome and _Escherichia coli_ O121 at a lake in Connecticut, 1999.

Pediatrics 2001; 108(4): E59; available at.

9. Iijima K, Kamioka I, Nozu K: Management of diarrhea-associated

hemolytic uremic syndrome in children. Clin Exp Nephrol 2008; 12(1):

16-9; abstract available at

- Mod.LL]


[see also:

E. coli VTEC non-O157 - USA (06): O145, lettuce 20100528.1777

E. coli VTEC non-O157 - USA (05): O145, lettuce 20100525.1738

E. coli VTEC non-O157 - USA (04): O145, lettuce 20100517.1618

E. coli VTEC non-O157 - USA (03): O145, lettuce, recall 20100507.1483

E. coli VTEC non-O157 - USA (02): (OH, MI, NY) O145 20100505.1460

E. coli VTEC non-O157 - USA: (MI, OH) 20100427.1358

2008

----

E. coli VTEC non-O157, restaurant - USA (04): (OK), O111 20081201.3779

E. coli VTEC non-O157, restaurant - USA: (OK), O111 20080902.2748

E. coli VTEC non-O157, past. ice cream, 2007 - Belgium: Antwerp 20080218.0655

2007

----

E. coli VTEC non-O157, beef sausage - Denmark 20070602.1784

E. coli VTEC non-O157, 2000-2005 - USA (CT) 20070118.0240

2006

----

E. coli VTEC non-O157, lettuce - USA (UT)(02): background 20060905.2523

E. coli VTEC non-O157, lettuce - USA (UT) 20060904.2521

E. coli VTEC non-O157 - Norway (03) 20060416.1133

E. coli VTEC non-O157 - Norway 20060329.0947

E. coli VTEC non-O157, minced beef - Norway 20060304.0680

2005

----

E. coli O145, fatal - Slovenia 20050916.2739

2003

----

E. coli, VTEC non-O157 - UK (Scotland): correction 20030828.2166

E. coli, VTEC non-O157 - UK (Scotland) 20030825.2144

2001

----

E. coli O26 - South Korea 20010509.0896

1999

----

E. coli O111, diarrhea - USA (Texas) 19990707.1134

1997

----

E. coli, non-0157 - Belgium 19970610.1215]

...................ll/ejp/dk

*##########################################################*

************************************************************

ProMED-mail makes every effort to verify the reports that

are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the

information, and of any statements or opinions based

thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in

using information posted or archived by ProMED-mail. ISID

and its associated service providers shall not be held

responsible for errors or omissions or held liable for any

damages incurred as a result of use or reliance upon posted

or archived material.

************************************************************

Donate to ProMED-mail. Details available at:



************************************************************

Visit ProMED-mail's web site at .

Send all items for posting to: promed@promedmail.org (NOT to

an individual moderator). If you do not give your full name

name and affiliation, it may not be posted. You may unsub-

scribe at .

For assistance from a human being, send mail to:

.

############################################################

############################################################



Reply Reply to all Forward

No comments: