000422 No Link to Beef In Minn. E.Coli OutbreakApril 15, 2000Washington - USDA said its tests showed no link between beef and an outbreak of E.coli in Minnesota last month. “All samples came back negative,” USDA spokeswoman Carol Blake said. State and federal officials are continuing to investigate the source of the outbreak. In March, six children at a Minneapolis Catholic middle school were confirmed sick from the potentially deadly bacteria, with another five suspected to be affected. Samples from all beef products that the students could have eaten tested negative for E.coli, USDA said. Minnesota health officials also tested samples of the beef products and found negative results for E.coli. Separately, in reaction to the Minnesota outbreak, a Democratic farm state senator urged the USDA to take immediate steps to improve school meal safety. In reaction to the Minnesota outbreak, Iowa senator Tom Harkin called on the USDA to improve its tracking of foodborne illness in the school lunch and school breakfast programs. “There are unacceptably large gaps in our knowledge about whether we are doing all we can to ensure the safety of 33 million meals eaten every day by our nation's children,” Harkin said.
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