DeLauro Urges Labels for Mechanically Tenderized Beef, Pork

Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) has responded to the recent recall of 248,000 pounds of blade-tenderized steaks by urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) “to require labeling that clearly identifies mechanically tenderized beef and pork products for all processing facilities, retailers and consumers.” USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued the Class I recall after concluding
that beef products originating from an Owasso, Oklahoma, establishment might be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FSIS apparently determined “that there is an association between non-intact steaks (blade tenderized prior to further processing) and illnesses in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota and Washington.” See FSIS Recall
Notice, December 24, 2009.

According to DeLauro, however, “USDA has been aware of the E. coli risks associated with mechanically tenderized steaks as early as 1999, but has refused to act.” She has also chided the Obama administration for failing to appoint an undersecretary for food safety at USDA. “This position has been vacant for far too long and it is preventing the department from acting on critical food safety issues such as this one,” said DeLauro in a December 28, 2009, press release. See USA Today, December 30, 2009.

Meanwhile, the American Meat Institute (AMI) has disputed the need for labeling mechanically tenderized steaks as such. “Because blade-tenderized steaks have been found to be comparable in safety, we don’t believe that special labeling declaring the mechanical tenderization process will provide meaningful or actionable information to consumers,” one AMI spokesperson was quoted as saying. See AMI Press Statement, December 29, 2009.