September is National Food Safety Education month. This designation came in 1994 by the National Restaurant Association ServSafe program. Over the years, it has been recognized by many federal agencies including the USDA-FSIS, FDA and CDC. This was one of many actions taken after several outbreaks resulted in severe illnesses and deaths from consuming raw or undercooked hamburgers or even as a result of poor hygiene in childcare facilities that spread the pathogen to other children.

It was a terrible time in the meat industry. The tragic events led to many actions such as the recognition of National Food Safety Education month, the FSIS pivoting to a HACCP-based inspection system and E. coli O157:H7 and eventually 6 other STECs being declared adulterants in raw ground beef and eventually in raw ground beef components. Practically every ground beef processor tests for the presence of the pathogen in every lot of product, diverting anything positive to a cooking process. It took a few years, but these actions eventually resulted in a decrease in illnesses due to STECs in beef. Recent IFSAC attribution data reported that more than 50% of E. coli O157 outbreaks were associated with vegetable row crops and just over 20% were associated with beef.

These are all of the positives, the “talking-points," so to speak, about everything that the beef industry has done to mitigate the pathogen. It is easy to focus on the trends and all of the good news. However, this month, National Food Safety Education month, E. coli O157:H7 made headlines again. There was a major outbreak resulting in severe illnesses with multiple hospitalizations from ground beef. Despite the fact that we have been on point and trending towards reduced illnesses, it is important that we do not become complacent. STECs are still present in beef and we can’t back off on continuing to mitigate the risks. We are also responsible in continuing to educate the consumer on how to properly handle meat and poultry products as a raw food.

This outbreak brings to light another important segment of our food supply, home meal delivery boxes. The outbreak was fortunately contained to Hello Fresh boxes that were delivered directly to homes to be prepared for a cooked meal for the family. Don’t get me wrong, I love these boxes and use them for 2-3 meals/week in our home. They are convenient and provide a fun way to add variety to our evening meals. However, there are a couple of things to consider with these boxes. First of all, they come with a detailed recipe including pictures and detailed instructions on how to prepare the product. Often there are even videos associated with the product that can be accessed online. I have directly contacted many of the box companies and asked why they do not include food safety instructions. It would be so simple to add a statement on proper cooking temps, and maybe they could provide a food thermometer when a subscription starts. The online videos could be an important educational moment about food safety addressing issues from cross-contamination to proper storage and cooking of meat and/or other high risk products.

Also, this is a segment of the food supply chain that currently lacks regulatory oversight. A study conducted by NCSU reported that in the boxes they monitored, 72% had at least one item above 40 F (in the temperature danger zone) upon delivery, but there are no policies surrounding this. This segment of the industry clearly needs some oversight. I hope that there can be policies put in place (jurisdiction is an issue, BTW) to prevent future outbreaks and to protect the consumer. In the meantime, I hope that companies can step up and take action to add food safety information in handling instructions. It takes actions from every segment of the industry to prevent illnesses and to mitigate risks. We do not want to have to see E. coli and beef in headlines ever again!

Hello E. coli (again)

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