August 15, 2002

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a draft notice that seeks to address issues on maintaining the safety of food from the E. coli bacteria. The notice is titled "FSIS Actions Concerning Suppliers that May Be Associated With Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 Positive Raw Ground Beef Product" and is available on the FSIS web site and open for comment.

It addresses 1) what kind of notice program personnel should provide before collecting raw ground beef samples for E. coli testing, 2) what information the inspector in charge (IIC) should obtain from a grinding establishment after there is a presumptive positive, and 3) what FSIS will do if the sample is confirmed positive for E. coli O157:H7.

The notice will be issued as a follow-up to comments made in a statement July 15 by FSIS Acting Administrator Linda Swacina. According to the statement, "In order to expedite recalls even more, FSIS will now inform the suppliers to a further processing facility, both verbally and in writing, when a positive E. coli O157:H7 sample is discovered in ground beef supplied to that facility. This will allow all the suppliers to take proactive steps without waiting for results from the FSIS investigation."

Comments on the notice are due to the agency August 20. To view the notice, please visit the FSIS web site at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/DraftIssuances/Ecoli.pdf.