New Technologies Focus on Reducing E. coli to "Winter Levels"

To level the curve on the theory of seasonal highs of E. coli in cattle, research is focusing on new technologies for deployment on the farm, the feedlot and at the slaughterhouse to knock E. coli O157:H7 down to winter levels all year round.

"The theory is that animals are carrying higher levels of E. coli during the summer months, and sometimes they may overwhelm the systems in place to control pathogen contamination in (processing) plants," says James Marsden, a professor of food safety and security at Kansas State University, and senior science adviser to the North American Meat Processors Association.

While the industry has primarily focused on killing off threatening germs on carcasses after cattle have been slaughtered, there is now a push from the USDA to move the front lines against E. coli and other pathogens to the feedlot and farm.

"To take the next big step forward on food safety, we need to do more to have fewer pathogens on food animals when they arrive at the slaughterhouse gate," Jerold Mande, USDA deputy undersecretary for food safety, said last month.

The hope is the new techniques will be able to bring O157:H7 levels from April to September down to cooler- weather numbers. Coupled with post-slaughter interventions, that could really help efforts to keep all beef free of E. coli O157:H7, Marsden says.

A number of possible interventions include vaccines, considered one of the most hopeful; phages, bacteria-fighting sprays; probiotics; sodium chlorate; and diet changes. Each, it is hoped, might take down the incidence of E. coli O157:H7 by a factor of 100. Together they could substantially lower the toll inflicted by the disease

Read the full story and detail on the interventions at USA Today.

Source: USA Today