Michigan Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due to Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination
Abbott's Meat Inc., a Flint, Mich., establishment, is voluntarily recalling approximately 26,669 pounds of ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.
Please notice that Abbott's Meat, Inc is a further processing plant, and does NOT slaughter. All of its meat originates from outside slaughterhouse supplier establishments. Abbott's ability to produce wholesome meat, free of enteric bacteria, is therefore totally dependent on the sanitary dressing procedures (or the lack thereof) utilized at its slaughterhouse source suppliers.
If sicknesses occur from consumers' consumption of E.coli-adulterated meat which is further processed through Abbott's grinder, this will be the latest example of the GIGO effect (garbage in, garbage out).
Anyone with a sincere interest in promoting public health would demand a traceback to the slaughterhouse origin of adulteration. However, if Abbott's dilemma continues true to form, no one will demand a traceback to the true origin of adulteration. Instead, under the leadership of a misdirected USDA, the entire focus of consumer interest groups, litigators and government regulators will be exclusively focused against Abbott's, as if they had been guilty of INTRODUCING the E.coli pathogen.
Realizing that E.coli and Salmonella are "enteric" bacteria, that is, they emanate from within animals' intestines, our society will not be protected from recurring incidents of adulterated food until every aspect of our society demands that investigations are required to identify the meat plant(s) which have animal intestines and manure-covered hides at their facilities. Such common sense investigations would be focused at slaughter plants, instead of at downstream further processing plants which are devoid of intestines and filthy hides.
America just doesn't get it. In our pell mell rush to blame the closest entity, we are fully comfortable in blaming innocent downline businesses which unwittingly purchased products which were previously contaminated with invisible bacteria. When we avoid tracing back to the TRUE SOURCE, we unwittingly guarantee the recurring production of contaminated/adulterated products because the TRUE SOURCE is insulated from cleaning up its act.
We'be been highly critical of Chinese food safety blunders this year. It's time we look in the mirror and acknowledge that America's mind set is equally flawed when it comes to our unwillingness to implement common sense corrective actions AT THE SOURCE of adulteration, and "force the source" to improve their production protocol.
John Munsell
Manager, Foundation for Accountability in Regulatory Enforcement (FARE)
Miles City, MT
July 22, 2007