New Methods Tested For Making Meat Safer

More than three years have passed since four people were killed and hundreds made ill by a Pacific Northwest outbreak of the dreaded E. coli, traced to poorly cooked ground beef at a fast-food restaurant, but concern about the virulent bacteria hasn’t subsided.

Prompted by government demands and the realization that even microscopic amounts of E. coli could spell ruin for meat producers, processors have focused on research to keep the beef you eat safe.

The concern is even more relevant in light of Great Britain’s problems with mad cow disease, although that is different from any bacterial contamination in the United States.

In the last four years, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has spent $5 million devising new systems to keep beef products safe, particularly in the initial stages of processing.

Pathogenic organisms, such as salmonella, listeria and E. coli O157:H7, grow in digestive tracts and on hides of live animals, so it’s vital that carcasses of just-slaughtered and skinned animals be cleaned to kill destructive bacteria and prevent cross-contamination.

Beef soon may be steam vacuumed, using a system similar to the one used to clean carpets. The Department of Agriculture has permitted vacuuming fresh beef tissue as an alternative to the present USDA method of trimming away contaminants with a knife.

Experiments supervised by the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service have found that steam vacuuming is much more efficient for reducing bacterial levels, says James O. Reagan, director of the beef association’s food safety research program. Instead of removing contaminants, using a trimming knife can spread them, he says, because of more handling of the meat.

Processors also are experimenting with high-pressure washes in which beef is sprayed with 190-degree water. Other methods involve treating the carcasses with mild organic acids - such as acetic, citric or lactic acid - or with other antimicrobial agents such as tri-sodium phosphate or chlorinated water.

Unfortunately, salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 are tougher to annihilate than bacteria such as listeria. Complicating the problem is that what kills bugs in a laboratory may not be efficient in a production line. Possible solutions create their own difficulties, such as condensation from steam that collects on the ceiling and elsewhere, where it can get contaminated and drip.

And some bacteria are beneficial. Spoilage bacteria play a valuable role because they signal that meat is old and no longer palatable before it is dangerous.

In 1995, the USDA’s inspection service tested about 6,000 samples and found only three that showed pathogens. So far in 1996 testing, they have found none.

“I can say unequivocally that the beef going into the cooler (at the end of the processing line) today is the safest we’ve ever seen,” Reagan says.

J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute, agrees, though he says there still is more to be done.

The best way to guarantee sanitized beef at the processing plant may be low-dose irradiation, which already has been approved for produce and poultry. So far no large producer will risk even mentioning it, Boyle says, even though opinion polls show most Americans would accepted irradiated meat.

Even if meat plants could eliminate every pathogen, it would solve only a small part of the meat-safety equation, especially as applied to hamburger.

Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta show that only about 3 percent of contamination problems are traced to processing. The greatest difficulties are with food service, catering and restaurants, where about 77 percent of food safety problems occur. Improper handling and lax sanitary conditions in homes account for the remaining 20 percent, Boyle says.

E. coli O157:H7, as well as other bacteria, may come from sources other than the original cow, particularly infected humans handling the meat.

To be safe, it is crucial to cook meat thoroughly, especially ground beef. Because bacteria collects on meat surfaces, steaks and roasts that have not been pierced can be cooked rare inside as long as the whole surface has been thoroughly heated.

But hamburger, because it has been ground up, must be cooked to 165 degrees throughout, enough so pinkness disappears and juices run clear. “That doesn’t mean it has to be charred,” Boyle says. “But it does need to be cooked.”