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E. coli Rate Rises Again in Ground Beef Sample Tests

By Pritzker | Ruohonen

For the third year in a row, the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in raw ground beef has increased in sample tests conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

A review of the latest 2008 FSIS data by Pritzker | Ruohonen & Associates, one of the few law firms in the United States that practices extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation, indicates that .47 percent of raw ground beef samples analyzed from Jan. 1 to Dec. 16, 2008, tested positive for E. coli O157:H7.

That compares to .23 percent positive test results in 2007, .17 percent in 2006 and .08 percent in 2005. According to the Pritzker | Ruohonen review, the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in samples of raw ground beef in 2008 was the highest it has been in the past six years.

E. coli O157:H7 is an adulterant in raw ground beef and FSIS inspectors test for it in federally regulated packing plants and at retail stores. The overwhelming majority of tests are performed at packing plants.

In 2008 (through Dec. 16), there were 54 positive microbiological test results for E. coli O157:H7 in 11,535 samples, according to the FSIS. One year earlier, FSIS inspectors found the bacteria only half as often: 29 times in 12,292 samples.

The results bolster what leading food safety attorney Fred Pritzker said in a press release issued last week: That America's E. coli outbreaks of 2008 are indicative of a problem that's getting worse.

Going back to 2002, here's a listing of year-end result posted by FSIS for its E. coli O157:H7 testing program for raw ground beef:

• 2008 -- 54 positives in 11,535 samples or .47 percent.
• 2007 -- 29 positives in 12,292 samples or .23 percent.
• 2006 -- 20 positives in 11,779 samples or.17 percent.
• 2005 -- 9 positives in 10,976 samples or .08 percent.
• 2004 -- 14 postives in 8,010 samples or .17 percent.
• 2003 -- 20 positives in 6,584 samples or .30 percent.
• 2002 -- 55 positives in 7025 samples or .78 percent. 

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on December 27, 2008 (boomark / email).