Although it doesn’t say so, the Food Safety Inspection
Service of the United States Department of Agriculture is stepping up its
vigilance for harmful bacteria in beef trimmings which would include lean,
finely-textured beef, as the meat industry terms it, or “pink slime” as a food
inspector labeled it.
If you thought the "pink slime" controversy that rocked the U.S. beef industry this summer didn't affect Canadians, think again. Although Health Canada bans lean, finely-textured beef (otherwise termed pink slime), the U.S. controversy roiled beef-market prices.
Now the increase in testing for bacteria is likely to lead to new standards for all beef trimmings, including any from Canada.
And Canadian packers aren't likely to take the time, trouble and expense to segregate beef destined for U.S. customers from beef for the Canadian market. In other words, the U.S. government reaction to the pink slime controversy could hit Canadians, and hit hard.
What the FSIS is saying is that it is redesigning its E.
coli verification testing program for beef manufacturing trimmings “to make the
program more risk-based and to enable the agency to calculate ongoing
statistical prevalence estimates for that pathogen in trimmings.”
It will be checking the incidence of E. coli0157:H7 and six
other strains of E. coli that give rise to toxins that result in food
poisoning. That means a lot more sampling and testing.
They will also be checking salmonella strains and organisms
that serve as indicators that the meat might have food pathogens.
