American consumers have never had a safer supply of beef, but there’s always room for improvement, according to Dr. Guy Loneragan, professor of food safety and public health at Texas Tech University,
At the recent Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville, Guy presented some of his recent research to committees of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). “Our research focuses on both pre-harvest and harvest aspects to safety,” he said, particularly on the prevention of salmonella and E. coli.
Guy says that there are several ways producers can do even more to avoid problems on the pre-harvest level. “The first thing I would say is for producers to stay engaged and be engaged, because knowledge is a very powerful weapon,” he said. “Beyond that, the industry has invested quite heavily into the development of several promising controls, like pro-biotics – the beneficial bacteria we find in yogurt, some strains appears to be quite effective in cattle too.”
At the harvest level, Guy says great strides have been made toward preventing contamination with disease-causing organisms. “There has been since 2000, more than 90% reduction in ground beef testing positive,” he said. “The challenge is, once you make all those tremendous gains, the ability to make more gains becomes less.”
However, Guy adds that while improvements at the harvest level have been largely focused on beef as the potential source for organisms like E. coli, recent outbreaks of produce contamination have focused more attention in that realm.
Listen to my interview with Guy Loneragan here: Guy Loneragan Interview