The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is expected to begin testing beef trim in the next three months for six additional types of shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) bacteria. This breakthrough in food safety is being hailed by consumer groups and food safety experts. Since 1994, E. coli O157:H7 has been the only type of the bacteria declared as an adulterant and therefore subject to testing. The huge Jack-in-the-Box E. coli hamburger outbreak in 1993 was the impetus for this classification. It will soon be illegal to sell ground beef and beef intended for grinding if it is contaminated with six other serogroups: O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145. The pending change could be delayed depending on handling of comments from meat industry interests who are opposed to the … [Read more...]