New e.Coli Strains Banned by USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture has announced that they are adding 6 strains of e.coli to its list of adulterants that will no longer be permitted in meat. Collectively, these germs have been demonstrated to cause more foodborne illnesses than their more well-known and already banned counterpart, e.coli 0157.
While representatives from the meat industry opposed these new regulations, stating that current procedure to identify e.coli 0157:H7 were sufficient to also protect against contamination from other strains, food safety advocates hailed the new rule as a victory in the fight against preventable disease.
Last year, the 6 newly banned strains caused a confirmed 451 infections, including 69 hospitalizations and 1 death. That compares to 442 infections, 184 hospitalizations and 2 deaths attributed to the more common e.coli 0157.
The Centers for Disease Control is quick to caution that these figures are likely to be under-representations of the actual number of illnesses caused by e.coli of all varieties. That's because many people who contract illnesses from contaminated foods never report them. Only more serious cases or those tied to large or well-publicized outbreaks tend to get reported, and the CDC estimates that actual figures may be as high as 265,000 infections annually - with 113,000 of those attributed to the newly banned strains.
More information is available here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44490454/ns/health-food_safety/