Earlier versions of this article incorrectly stated that the meat had been contaminated before it reached Whole Foods and attributed that statement to the company. Although the company said it pulled ground beef from some of its stores because it was processed by a plant linked to E. coli illnesses, the company did not speculate on how or where any meat may have been contaminated. Also, a photo caption incorrectly said that Whole Foods had recalled 1.2 million pounds of beef. It was Nebraska Beef that recalled that amount.
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Beef Recalled by Whole Foods Fell Into Regulatory Gray Area
Last week Whole Foods recalled 1.2 million pounds of meat produced by Nebraska Beef under the Coleman Natural Meats brand. It was Nebraska Beef's second recall of the summer.
(By Nati Harnik -- Associated Press)
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Whether the USDA should police primal cuts as closely as it does ground beef has been a contentious issue for years.
After the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak that killed four children, the USDA declared it illegal to sell ground beef and any beef products intended for use in ground beef that are contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. But consumer advocates and meat inspectors have long criticized the USDA for not enforcing that policy equally when it comes to primal cuts even though they are sometimes used to make ground beef.
The beef industry has argued that steaks and roasts should be treated differently because they are less likely to make people sick.
Some beef producers have also opposed attempts by regulators to treat primal cuts the same as ground beef because the companies don't always know when their meat will be used to make ground beef. Some have labeled their primal cuts "not for further processing" to make clear they never intended for it to be used for hamburger meat.
Earlier this year, USDA officials announced a public meeting to discuss formally expanding the policy on E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef to include primal cuts. They quickly ran into resistance from beef industry representatives such as the American Meat Institute's president, J. Patrick Boyle. Boyle said in a March letter to Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer that such a move was "extremely troubling and not supported by science or the law."
After the meeting, which took place in Georgetown in April, some raw beef producers expressed concern that the USDA had already changed its policy by increasing testing of primal cuts, according to public comments submitted by attorney Dennis Johnson.
The resistance has forced the USDA to retreat, at least publicly, and the agency plans to meet later this year to discuss exposing beef carcasses to low levels of radiation as another way to make meat safer.
"Some proposals discussed at the meetings could be accomplished quickly, such as low dose irradiation of beef carcasses, however others such as considering E. coli O157:H7 contamination of primals and other whole cuts require further discussion with all of our stakeholders," Richard Raymond, USDA undersecretary for food safety said in an e-mail Wednesday. "We understand that in order to have the greatest impact, decisions must not only be science based, but also have the support of our stakeholders and constituents."
