New E. coli research offers safer meat processing
the findings of a current research project into a dangerous strain
of E. coli prove conclusive.
Scientists at the University of Edinburgh, in collaboration with the Scottish Agricultural College and the Moredun Research Institute, have discovered that E. coli O157:H7 colonises only the last few centimetres of the cattle gut.
As a result, bacteria are spread onto the surface of faeces as they leave the cow and can easily contaminate the environment. In slaughterhouses, E coli can be transferred to meat if poor hygiene standards are observed.
Therefore, eradicating deadly E. coli O157:H7 from the bottoms of cows may prevent future outbreaks of food poisoning. The majority of people with E. coli O157:H7, picked up the infection from cattle, either through direct contact with faeces or by consuming contaminated meat or milk, according to an article in the August 2004 issue Microbiology Today.
"We are focused on understanding where and how E. coli O157:H7 colonises cattle," said Dr David Gally from the University of Edinburgh. "Our aim is to produce vaccines that stop the bacteria from attaching themselves to the gut wall. This prevents colonisation and therefore reduces the threat to human health from this dangerous pathogen."
Thanks to genomics, scientists now understand why some strains of E. coli are harmless, whilst others are deadly. For example, E. coli O157:H7 was made infamous due to a fatal outbreak in Scotland in 1996, whilst other strains, such as E. coli K-12, the most well studied bacterium in science according to the magazine, have contributed enormously to our understanding of how cells work.
For the food industry however, E. coli has always been bad news. Beef industry leaders have met frequently to formulate actions plan in order to help make the beef supply chain as safe as possible.
Last year for example, more than 200 industry leaders, representing each link in the beef production chain, participated in a two-day working summit that was sponsored by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
This summit focused on identifying good manufacturing practices, interventions and research needs to reduce the incidents of E. coli O157:H7. Action steps were identified for each industry segment: cattle production, fabrication, processing, retail and foodservice.
Specific actions recommended included expanding research and fast-tracking the approval of interventions such as cattle vaccines and feed additives along with the standardisation of safety testing and verification at packing plants.
The actions aim to complement checkoff-supported interventions currently in place including thermal pasteurisation and carcass washing systems that eliminate or reduce the presence of pathogens.
The developments reported in Microbiology Today , the quarterly magazine of the Society for General Microbiology, will therefore come as welcome news to an industry fighting to keep yet more health scares off the menu.
