In November of 1997, the Meat and Poultry Subcommittee of the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods stated that standard beef steaks have a low probability of E. coli O157:H7 migrating from the surface to the interior of the beef muscle.
Because of this, the cooking advice was to cook the steak at least enough to effect a cooked color change on all surfaces. Hence, it was officially safe to eat a steak rare.
But the committee limited this advice to “intact beef steak” and then defined the term as follows: “A cut of whole muscle that has not been injected, mechanically tenderized or reconstructed.” Under the Food and Drug Administration’s 1977 food code, “injected” meant “manipulating a meat so that infectious or toxigenic microorganisms may be introduced from its surface to its interior through tenderizing with deep penetration or injecting the meat such as with juices.”
Based on these definitions, USDA’s Food Safety and Information Service FSIS proclaimed in early 1999 that the agency believes there should be a distinction between intact cuts of muscle and non-intact products, including those that have been tenderized and injected.
The problem is that too few people — including many food handlers at restaurants — realize the difference between a regular steak and a non-intact cut of beef. The results can be harsh. Currently, national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is investigating cases of E. coli O157 that may be associated with steak served at restaurants in Minnesota and other states. If you or a loved one has been sickened in this potential steak E. coli outbreak, the firm would like to hear from you at 1-888-377-8900 or via our online contact and information form.
By 1999, FSIS had already banned E. coli O157:H7 from ground beef — officially making it an adulterated product in commerce. To prevent against the potential risk of E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks in non-intact steak, FSIS then banned the pathogen from all non-intact products (including beef trimming for making ground beef).
The expansion of the E. coli O157:H7 adulteration policy by FSIS gives special legal rights to victims of E. coli steak outbreaks if the contaminated meats in question were injected or otherwise tenderized. This means that someone who contracts an E. coli infection from a brine-injected non-intact steak product can sue the manufacturer of that steak product and the restaurant where it was served under strict liability laws. The E. coli victim does not have to prove negligence on anyone’s part to recover medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering and other damages under strict liability laws.
