Dana Boner lost her 14-year-old daughter to E. coli O111 in 2007.
Now she is a member of Chicago-based S.T.O.P.-Safe Tables Our Priority, which is renewing its plea to the USDA to declare disease-causing E. coli types other than E. coli O157:H7 as adulterants in beef and begin testing for them. National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen and many other supporters of S.T.O.P. have made the same request.
The USDA declared E. coli O157:H7 an adulterant in ground beef in 1994 in the aftermath of a west coast outbreak that sickened over 700 people and killed at least 4. Adulterant status makes it illegal to sell contaminated product — knowingly or unknowingly. With it comes an obligation to test for the pathogen.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified 6 additional strains of shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC) — O26, O111, O103, O121, O45 and O145 — that are associated with severe illness and death. Shiga-toxin — whether it comes from the O157:H7 bug or any other bug attacks red blood cells with the same life-threatening result.
Just like E. coli O157:H7, these other STEC strains are found in cattle and get into our beef supply when feces contaminate the meat during slaughter and processing. The powerful toxin, which has no antidote, can lead to renal failure, cause strokes, damage neuro systems and create heart problems. It leads to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), two life-threatening complications of STEC infection.
“You can’t find what you’re not looking for and USDA needs to start actively looking for these pathogens,” Dana said in a press release issued by S.T.O.P. ”It’s too late for Kayla, but not too late for others.”
Nancy Donley, S.T.O.P.’s President, whose 6-year-old son died from E. coli O157:H7-contaminated ground beef, said that in 2007 and 2008 USDA had public meetings on this issue, but failed to enact any prevention-based strategy. Instead, USDA declared that it would first conduct testing of ground beef and components to determine the extent of non-O157 STEC and implement a regulatory program if needed.
“While S.T.O.P. has no objection to conducting a baseline study, we object to holding up declaring these additional E. coli strains as adulterants in beef,” Donley said.
