Ground beef has been the subject of several high-profile outbreaks of food-borne illness in recent years, as well as product recalls. But tracing the source of such an outbreak is often challenging for investigators. Now, the USDA is proposing new rules for ground beef processors. What's still unclear is how the rules might affect small processors.
Americans will eat billions of pounds of ground beef this year - that's billions, with a 'B.'
Barry Higgins and his crew at Maple Lane Farms in Charleston are making some right now. "if this was a big plant, you'd be running this into a big tub, and you'd have a grinder five times as big," Higgins says.
But Maple Lane Farms is just a small processor, and that, says Higgins, means he knows what goes on in his facility. He says he can oversee everything, from the care and feeding of the cattle in his yard, to the animals' slaughter, and every step the meat will take on its way out the door.
"This is where the actual packaging takes place. If the cutters get ahead of the wrappers, then this meat goes directly from there into a cold storage area," he says.
Additionally, Higgins says he maintains rigorous sanitation standards from the killing floor to the freezer. And he says he allows his meat to hang and age for several weeks before even trying to cut into it - a time consuming step - which he says reduces the number of dangerous bacteria on the meat's surface.
"Being small I think we have a little more control over it," Higgins says. "We know every - whatever the product we manufacture here - where it comes from, and what animal it comes from."
Higgins says he's not sure how - or if - proposed rule changes will affect him, but like many farmers and small processors, he says with every change there's usually paperwork involved. "Government programs tend to be large and burdensome," he says.
Although Maple Lane has never had to issue a recall for any of its products, others have. Producers have some control by selling directly to consumers. But when something like meat is shipped to a retailer, which then grinds it and mixes it with other caracasses, tracing the source of contamination can be more difficult.
And that's just what happened in 2011, when ground beef sold in Hannaford Supermarkets was linked to a multi-state outbreak of salmonella bacteria. Existing laws meant that little information was available following the outbreak.
This is U.S. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree addressing top USDA officials in Washington last year: "You conducted a thorough investigation of the outbreak and determined that, because of the current grinding log rules in place and because they were voluntary, there wasn't enough complete information to determine the origin of the contaminated beef."
And that's the type of situation that this proposed USDA rule change is attempting to address, says Alexandra Tarrant, from the Food Safety and Inspection Service Congressional Public Affairs Office in Washington D.C.
"This is just another step that we're taking to try to protect consumers and make sure that they're getting a wholesome quality product on their plate," Tarrant says, "and making sure that we reduce illnesses as much as possible, as the regulatory agency."
Congresswoman Pingree says she's pleased that action is being taken in the form of the new rule, but she's still not clear what its effects will be. "I do want to look at the proposed rules carefully to make sure that they don't put an unreasonable burden on small producers, who have not been part of the problem in the first place."
The proposed change calls for processors who handle ground beef to keep more detailed records on where the meat comes from. They would also be required to document lot numbers and keep more stringent sanitation records. The USDA has said that better record-keeping could reduce food-borne illness by up to 30 percent. But the extra effort is expected to come at a cost of more than $20 million for retailers across the country.
A spokesperson for Hannaford declined to be interviewed for this story, but said in a statement that the store has already implemented an electronic tracking system for its ground beef. The statement went on to say that the proposed regulation "does offer guidance for the supermarket sector as a whole and would create consistency among retailers."
The proposed rule is now open for public comment.
