Washington - The federal government said it would consider warning labels on packages of hot dogs or stricter testing by meat plants to halt the growing number of cases where meat has been infected by bacteria.
A string of recalls for tainted hot dogs, lunch meat and milk have occurred in recent weeks, puzzling U.S. Agriculture Department officials who cannot explain the eruption of cases.
A total of 16 deaths and more than 70 illnesses have been linked to listeria in products made by Sara Lee Corp. The other outbreaks have not caused any reported deaths.
“We're considering everything at this point,” Margaret Glavin, associate administrator of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, told reporters.
A warning label for high-risk consumers is “one of the areas we are exploring,” Glavin said. Another option is to require plants to test for listeria, or increase the USDA's current random sampling of meat products for listeria.
Food industry officials contend that more research is needed before the USDA issues any new rules.
The USDA will hold a hearing Wednesday to gather suggestions from consumer groups and the meat industry.
The listeria bacteria does not harm healthy adults, but can be deadly for unborn babies, small children, the elderly and anyone with a weak immune system.
In 1998, the USDA took a total of 3,547 product samples for listeria from some 2,000 U.S. plants, Glavin said. Ninety of the samples, or about 2.5%, tested positive.
Meat plants themselves often test for generic listeria in the air or in floor drains, she said.
Scientists are probing whether longer shelf life of products -- sometimes now extending for months -- might contribute to the problem. Another possibility is that the bacteria has become resistant to high temperatures during processing.
Between 1989, when the USDA launched random testing of listeria, and 1993, U.S. listeria illnesses fell by 44% and deaths dropped 48%, according to health records.
“Since that time, those numbers have remained down but they haven't continued to drop. It is this concern and the spate of recent problems that is causing us to investigate,” she said.
The Sara Lee plant in Zeeland, Michigan which produced the products linked to the deaths cannot resume production until it pinpoints the cause of the listeria, the USDA said.
The plant has a history of problems dating back to the summer of 1997, when a series of sanitation “discrepancies” were found by USDA inspectors, Glavin said.
In November 1997, the USDA suspended inspections for a week -- effectively shutting the plant down -- until management took care of sanitation problems.
In July 1998, the Zeeland plant's own environmental tests showed “generic listeria was in the plant, maybe in floor drains,” she said.
Glavin defended the USDA, saying it moved swiftly once the U.S. Center for Disease Control found a possible culprit.
On December 15, a USDA team of investigators went to the plant and tested production line samples. Although investigators did not find any contamination, three days later USDA officials suggested a “voluntary withdrawal” of the suspected product.
Sara Lee issued a voluntary recall on December 22. One week later, USDA scientists confirmed a tainted sample from an ill patient's refrigerator was linked to the plant.
Glavin also insisted that the recent outbreak of listeria cases did not reflect on the USDA's tougher food safety measures for raw meat and poultry plants. All large and medium-sized U.S. meat and poultry plants must follow a series of scientific-based checkpoints to prevent contamination.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
P.O. Box 553
Northport, NY 11768
Phone: 631-757-4010
Fax: 631-757-4060
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com
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