The recent outbreak of human illness linked to E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef
has prompted a challenge of the validity of the sampling and testing regime USDA
endorses for testing of beef trim used in ground beef.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.) has asked the USDAs Inspector General to
investigate the scientific merits of the “N = 60” sampling and testing protocol
in the wake of a recall of 545,699 pounds of ground beef by Fairbanks Farms of
Ashville, N.Y. USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service approves the N = 60
protocol for testing of beef trim either to screen for pathogens including
O157, or to specifically test for O157, under a new testing requirement
announced on July 31. (N = 60 includes pathogen testing of 60 samples from each
lot of bench trim, which are cut to include surface tissue. The supplier of the
beef trim products can ship product lots that tests negative to downstream
grinding plants.)
In the wake of a recall of 545,699 pounds of ground beef by Fairbanks Farms of
Ashville, N.Y., a grinder company that requires verification its raw materials
are free of O157, DeLauro has asked USDA Inspector General Phyllis Fong for an
investigation of the N = 60.
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