US-WA-Center Daily.com-Marler Clark to Test Retail Hamburger for Non-O157:H7 Pathogenic Shiga Toxin Producing E. coli

SEATTLE — 2007 was a record year for hamburger-related food safety recalls — over 20 individual recalls involving over 33 million pounds of meat. Because of the failure of the beef industry and government to protect the public, the law firm of Marler and Clark has approved a project to commission a baseline study to determine the prevalence of non-O157:H7 pathogenic shiga toxin producing E. coli (STEC) in retail ground beef.

Non-O157 STEC are capable of causing the same debilitating triad of diseases as E. coli O157:H7, including hemorrhagic colitis, hemolytic uremic syndrome, and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Infection with the non-O157 STEC can result in death in children, the elderly and the immunocompromised. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of reported cases of illnesses caused by this group of pathogenic E. coli has been steadily increasing over the past several years. Despite this, Non-O157:H7 STEC is not considered an adulterant under current law in the U.S.

Non-O157:H7 STEC are also known to occur in imported beef from several trading partners, yet the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has not required that imported beef be free of these pathogens. Marler Clark claims the Agency has also failed to devise steps to measure and control the presence of these pathogens in domestic beef production and the ground beef supply, at the slaughterhouse or the grocery store….more…