The U.S. Department of Agriculture has decided to ban six toxic strains of E. coli from the beef industry, according to news sources.
The six strains have been showing up more as the cause of food illness. These six strains will now be treated as the o157:H7 strain of E. coli, which was banned in 1994 after killing several people and causing illness in hundreds.
Currently, it’s common to find toxic bacteria on meat, but cooking it usually kills it. However, E. Coli is treated differently. It doesn’t take many E. coli bacteria for a person to get sick, symptoms of which include bloody diarrhea, stomach cramps, and sometimes, kidney failure.
The new ban will begin in March, giving time for the meat industry to prepare for testing. The beef industry believes the move is not needed and will force the cost of meat to rise, but the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has linked the 6 strains to 113,000 illnesses a year, 1/3 of which are traced to beef.
As a Los Angeles product defect attorney I have seen food recalls like this one and know that, with as much testing goes into food products before manufacturers send them to market, mistakes can still be made. Although our personal injury law firm does not handle these type of cases there are food recall lawyers out there that can help your or a loved one if you have been effected by a contaminated product. I also recommend heating your meat to 160 degrees in order to make sure all pathogens are eliminated when you cook.