The controversial law that allows salmonella into the human food chain
Campaigners want to change a loophole which allows producers to sell meat known to contain salmonella
Animals farmed is supported by About this content Andrew Wasley
Wed 21 Feb 2018 23.14 AEDT Last modified on Thu 22 Feb 2018 00.52 AEDT
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Food poisoning outbreaks were reduced in the US beef supply after E coli was classed as an ‘adulterant’. Photograph: Daniel Garcia/AFP/Getty Images
US campaigners are calling once again for the closure of a legal loophole that allows meat with salmonella to be sold in the human supply chain.
The salmonella risk for US consumers is heightened by a controversial loophole which means US producers could potentially allow meat containing salmonella into the human food chain. The bacteria isn’t classified as an “adulterant” in US law – in contrast to some food poisoning germs such as E coli 0157 – meaning producers have no obligation to withhold contaminated batches. In the UK stricter regulations are designed to prevent most contamination. 'She was in so much pain' - how turkey meatballs gave an Oregon baby salmonella poisoning
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Consumers groups and some experts want the law changed. Although several attempts – including legislation that would reclassify salmonella as an adulterant – have been made in recent years, the efforts have been defeated.
Bill Marler, an attorney who has represented many victims of food poisoning outbreaks in recent years, said classifying salmonella an adulterant would dramatically reduce human cases: “One only needs to look at the success we have had in the beef supply after E coli was deemed an adulterant [in 2011]. 90% of my work in the late 1990s and early 2000s was E coli cases linked to red meat. Now it is near zero. That is a success of the government setting a standard and industry meeting.”
But the US meat industry and some experts say enacting a zero policy for salmonella in the same way isn’t feasible. According to Eric Mittenthal, of the North American Meat Institute: “It’s important to understand that no law or regulation can somehow eliminate bacteria that occurs naturally. If declaring certain strains of salmonella to be adulterants would make them go away, we’d support the policy, but government, industry and academic experts don’t believe this approach is achievable or would be effective.
“That is why the government’s approach has been to require plants to take steps to reduce salmonella on raw meat and poultry products ... Plants use careful sanitation procedures and what we call interventions, like carcass sprays and washes and steam pasteurisation cabinets, to reduce all bacteria, salmonella included, to the lowest levels possible. No one wants to eliminate bacteria on meat products more than the companies who produce and sell them, but we also believe it is important to support policies that will work and don’t lead people to believe that ‘zero’ salmonella is possible on a raw product.” Share your stories from inside the farming industry
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Prof Glenn Morris, of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida, said that while it was possible for the US meat industry to bring down salmonella rates, there is a need for greater incentives. “Industry does have ways to drive down salmonella rates but like so many things it costs money. It’s about cost and profit versus the public health drive.”
He said that reducing salmonella to zero levels – or reclassifying it as an adulterant – “is a prayer that will never happen” in the current political climate.
The US has shockingly high levels of foodborne illness, according to a new analysis by UK pressure group Sustain. It says that annually, around 14.7% (48 million people) of the US population is estimated to suffer from an illness, compared to around 1.5% (1 million) in the UK. In the US, 128,000 are hospitalised, and 3,000 die each year of foodborne diseases.
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