GAO Report Urges Preslaughter Inventions to Reduce E. Coli
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a March 2012
report urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to adopt several
measures to reduce Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in cattle
before they are slaughtered. According to GAO, USDA currently recognizes
bacteriophages, probiotics, vaccines, and sodium chlorate as preslaughter
interventions able to control STEC, but has received few applications for
commercial products that use these methods. The report notes that even in the case of STEC vaccines, USDA’s requirements for approval are “unclear” and do not address “some of the unique challenges faced by manufacturers of
animal health products.”
GAO found that, unlike the Canadian Centre for Veterinary Biologics, USDA
fails to specify when it requires laboratory or field demonstrations of vaccine
efficacy, resulting in delayed application approval. There is also apparently a
lack of available products designed to test for six STEC strains—other than
STEC O157:H7—that are now considered adulterants in raw ground beef
and beef trim. To this end, GAO has called on USDA “to provide more specific
public guidance on the license approval requirements of STEC vaccines” and to
consider strategies used by the European Union and Sweden to manage STEC
outbreaks. The report highlights EU measures that require regulators to inspect
the cleanliness of cattle before slaughter and to collect data on STEC in live
cattle, as well as Swedish efforts to trace STEC-contaminated cattle back to the
source farm, where additional testing is carried out.
“Since 2006, the U.S. beef industry has recalled over 23 million pounds of beef owing to contamination from pathogenic strains of [STEC]. These strains do not harm cattle but may contaminate meat during slaughter . . . USDA has stated that interventions to reduce STEC before slaughter offer a significant opportunity to improve food safety,” concludes the report, which relied on agency documents, slaughterhouse inspections, and input from officials, industry representatives and other experts on STEC in cattle.
