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July 14, 2011<\/p>\n
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Contact: NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org<\/p>\n
Washington, DC — STOP Foodborne Illness (STOP, formerly S.T.O.P. \u2013 Safe Tables Our Priority), the National Consumers League (NCL), the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and the Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention, applauded today the announcement by Beef Products, Inc. (BPI) to voluntarily expand the company\u2019s \u201chold and test\u201d program to include the six additional strains of\u00a0E. coli<\/em>\u00a0identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as harmful pathogens in the food supply. The groups expressed hope that BPI\u2019s decision to begin voluntarily testing and holding for other pathogenic\u00a0E. coli<\/em>\u00a0strains in addition to\u00a0E. coli<\/em>\u00a0O157:H7 will inspire the Obama administration to take additional steps to protect public health and cause the meat industry to cease their opposition to ensuring a higher level of protection for consumers.<\/p>\n FSIS has proposed declaring these strains as adulterants and requiring industry to sample and test for these pathogens and hold the product until final laboratory results declare the product has no detectable level of\u00a0E. coli<\/em>\u00a0O157:H7 and these other six pathogenic strains of\u00a0E. coli.<\/em>\u00a0The Office of Management and Budget has sidelined the proposal since January 2011.<\/p>\n \u201cWe now know that other strains of\u00a0E. coli\u00a0<\/em>produce the powerful Shiga toxin, are similar to\u00a0E.coli<\/em>\u00a0O157:H7 in virulence, and are much more prevalent than we once thought.\u201d said Chris Waldrop, Director of Consumer Federation of America\u2019s Food Policy Institute.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s time for the Obama Administration to declare these additional six strains adulterants, require robust sampling protocols by the entire industry and require all companies to hold product from commerce until a negative test result is determined.\u201d<\/p>\n The six strains of non-O157:H7 Shiga-toxin producing\u00a0E. coli,<\/em>\u00a0or non-O157 STEC identified by the CDC as responsible for the majority of the non-O157 illnesses and deaths are O26, O111, O103, O45, O121 and O140.\u00a0 These strains, like O157, have the ability to cause Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) which is life-threatening.\u00a0 Unlike other pathogens, such as\u00a0Salmonella,<\/em>\u00a0it only takes a very small number of these STEC organisms to cause illness.<\/p>\n \u201cThese strains of\u00a0E. coli\u00a0<\/em>have been identified for years as causing serious illness and even death to consumers.\u00a0 We have been pressing FSIS, members of Congress and anyone else who will listen about the need to keep these pathogens out of the food supply,\u201d states STOP Foodborne Illness president, Nancy Donley.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is it going to take to get FSIS to do the right thing and declare these six identified strains as adulterants and enact programs and standards to prevent them from reaching the marketplace?\u00a0 We are encouraged to see a company like BPI taking the bull by the horns and independently test for these killer pathogens before being required by government, but we need the entire industry involved and that will only happen when government mandates it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate that one member of the beef industry is taking a leadership role,\u201d said Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of the National Consumers League.\u00a0 \u201cBPI is well equipped to do this, and will be able to apply their experience with sampling and hold and test for\u00a0E. coli<\/em>\u00a0O157:H7 with the Big Six STECs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA robust sampling program is essential to effective verification that food safety controls are working,\u201d says Sarah Klein, an attorney with Center for Science in the Public Interest.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re pleased that the company is expanding their testing to include additional\u00a0E. coli\u00a0<\/em>hazards and urge them and FSIS to consider antibiotic-resistant\u00a0Salmonella<\/em>\u00a0known to cause illness as well. Consumers deserve protection from all of these hazards, and companies should pursue every approach to provide it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNon-O157 STECs can have a significant public health impact. Many of those sickened will suffer secondary life-long medical complications. We must start tracking and condemning products contaminated with\u00a0E. coli<\/em>\u00a0strains that cause human illness,\u201d notes Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention\u2019s CEO, Barbara Kowalcyk.\u00a0 \u201cUnfortunately, a USDA proposal to declare the Big Six as adulterants in meat and poultry products has languished in the White House Office of Management and Budget. We have the technology to test for these pathogens. FSIS can and should immediately begin monitoring for the Big Six in meat and poultry products.\u201d<\/p>\n While the consumer groups do not endorse companies or products and are not familiar with the specific test to be used nor the sampling protocol, the groups are pleased that BPI is taking this step to hold and test for non-O157:H7 STECs and encourage others in the industry to do the same. The consumer groups strongly urge OMB to finalize FSIS\u2019 proposal to immediately declare the \u201cBig Six\u201d non-O157 STEC adulterants and put a robust and meaningful testing regiment in place.<\/p>\n # # #<\/p>\n The Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing foodborne illness through research, education, advocacy and service.<\/em><\/p>\n The Center for Science in the Public Interest is a non-profit consumer advocacy and education organization that focuses largely on food safety and nutrition issues. It is supported principally by the 850,000 subscribers to its Nutrition Action Healthletter and by foundation grants.<\/em><\/p>\n The Consumer Federation of America is a nonprofit association of nearly 300 consumer groups that, since 1968, has sought to advance the consumer interest through research, advocacy, and education.<\/em><\/p>\n The National Consumers League is the nation\u2019s oldest consumer organization, representing consumers on marketplace and workplace issues.<\/em><\/p>\n STOP Foodborne Illness is a national nonprofit public health organization dedicated to the prevention of illness and death from foodborne pathogens by advocating for sound public policy, building public awareness and assisting those impacted by\u00a0foodborne illness.<\/em><\/p>\n Contact:<\/p>\n Barbara Kowalcyk, Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention, 724-58-0767<\/p>\n Sarah Klein, Center for Science in the Public Interest, 202-332-9110<\/p>\n Chris Waldrop, Consumer Federation of America, 202-797-8551<\/p>\n Sally Greenberg, National Consumers League, 202-835-3323<\/p>\n Nancy Donley, STOP Foodborne Illness, 773-269-6555<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" July 14, 2011 \u00a0 Contact: NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org Washington, DC — STOP Foodborne Illness (STOP, formerly S.T.O.P. \u2013 Safe Tables Our Priority), the National Consumers League (NCL), the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1704"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1704"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10985,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1704\/revisions\/10985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}