The Wall Street Journal reports that US officials now believe – and are prepared to tell the public – that there is more than one kind of E. coli bacteria responsible for making people sick. This will mark a significant shift from the government’s previous position that one strain -- E. coli 0157:H7 – was the root cause of the increasing number of food poisoning cases on record in the US.
According to the story, “The USDA, along with the Food and Drug Administration and the CDC, are meeting with private-sector specialists in efforts to address the increasing problem. Next week, government officials will be at the Arlington, Va., campus of George Mason University to tackle issues such as how regulatory agencies should define, monitor and control other strains of E. coli bacteria in food or raw products.”
According to the story, “The USDA, along with the Food and Drug Administration and the CDC, are meeting with private-sector specialists in efforts to address the increasing problem. Next week, government officials will be at the Arlington, Va., campus of George Mason University to tackle issues such as how regulatory agencies should define, monitor and control other strains of E. coli bacteria in food or raw products.”
- KC's View:
- In part it is because the technology gets better, which allows us to know more. But have you noticed that the news almost never gets better in the food safety arena these days?
