Tainted-food notices to come faster

Ohio and Michigan had at least 41 people sickened by the E. coli contamination.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio officials will speed up public notification of tainted food products in the wake of an E. coli outbreak that sickened people in Ohio and Michigan, the state’s agriculture director said.

The department will notify the public of laboratory test results within three hours, instead of waiting for other agencies or companies to make their own announcements, Agriculture Director Robert Boggs told The Columbus Dispatch.

Ohio officials confirmed on June 23 that beef tested in state labs was contaminated with E. coli, but the information was not released until June 25.

“I think the industry should have been more forthcoming more quickly in giving information to the public that product in their stores had been contaminated,” Boggs said.

Food samples from federal agencies might be exempt from the policy, Boggs said.

The tainted meat was later traced to Nebraska Beef Ltd., prompting the company to recall 5.3 million pounds of beef.

Some of the recalled beef was sold by Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. stores. The grocer has recalled ground beef products in more than 20 states.

At least 41 illnesses in Michigan and Ohio have been tied to Nebraska Beef’s products.

The federal government has criticized Nebraska Beef for responding slowly to indications that its products might be tainted with E. coli.

The company proposed a new plan last week to satisfy the USDA’s concerns, but details of the changes were not released.

USDA inspectors will check on the plant, which is in Omaha, over the next 90 days to make sure Nebraska Beef completes the changes it proposed, USDA spokeswoman Amanda Eamich said.

Several lawsuits have been filed against privately held Nebraska Beef as a result of the E. coli outbreak and recall. The company slaughters about 2,000 head of cattle a day and employs about 800 people.

Federal food safety regulators should have more power and focus only on public protection, said Dr. William Schaffner, professor and chairman of the department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University.

“The [USDA] is predicated on the notion that what the USA produces on the farm and on the ranch is a good thing,” Schaffner said.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that E. coli sickens about 73,000 people and kills 61 each year in the United States. Most of those who die have weak immune systems, such as the elderly or very young.