May 19, 1999

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman says surveys show salmonella in meat and poultry plants has declined considerably, but new, more virulent and resistant strains of pathogens are showing up in the food supply. USDA will issue new guidelines to deal with increasing episodes of listeria contamination.

In a Tuesday address to the National Consumers League, Glickman said surveys taken before the hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) system was implemented in the nation's processing plants, when compared with current conditions, show the prevalence of salmonella in meat and poultry has declined considerably. For hogs and ground turkey the decline is more than 25%; for ground beef it is more than one-third and for poultry, nearly 50%.

"But...why are we seeing new, more virulent and resistant strains of pathogens?" Glickman asked. "What has campylobacter emerged as the number one cause of food-borne illness? Why are we seeing more and more cases of listeria?"

USDA will issue new guidelines to deal with listeria in meat processing plants, he said, but there also are on-farm issues to address such as why pathogens appear in some animals but not others.

Biotechnology, Glickman added, continually presents new challenges. It can be an "indispensable tool in meeting global agricultural demand in a sustainable manner." and help farmers produce "a new generation of specialty products which the market may demand in the future."

But "we cannot be science's blind servant," he cautioned. "We have to understand (biotechnology's) ethical, safety and environmental implications. Our testing has to be rigorous. We have to be as vigilant as ever."