Source:  Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 5/27/10

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said she has introduced legislation to require USDA to regulate the six currently unregulated strains of E. coli proven to cause food-borne illnesses.

The bill comes a month after she wrote to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack urging such regulation.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are six non-O157 STECs identified that have cause about 36,700 illnesses, 1,100 hospitalizations and 30 deaths in America each year, Gillibrand said in a news release.

The proposed legislation would add the six confirmed strains to the list of adulterants, require meat companies to test for and discard any batches containing any toxic strains of E. coli, and give USDA authority to find and regulate more toxic strains in the future.

Specifically, the legislation would:

• Amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to define E. coli as "enterohemorrhagic (EHEC) Shiga toxin-producing serotypes of Escherichia coli (E. coli)."
• Include the following E. coli strains: 0157: H7, 026, 045, 0103, 011, 0121, 0145

Gillibrand said EHEC was chosen because it is, by definition, pathogenic. She said this would strike a compromise between being overly-inclusive (not all STEC are pathogenic) and under-inclusive (not closing the door on yet-unidentified strains of pathogenic E. coli).

"By expanding the definition of adulterants to other strains, it will require USDA to begin spot testing procedures, force companies (through legal pressure) to test and eliminate the pathogen, and require FSIS to recommend best testing practices to companies," the news release stated.

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