Tainted meat not always recovered

Each year, slaughterhouses and processors voluntarily recall millions of pounds of meat and poultry because of possible bacterial, viral or parasitic contamination. But only about half of it is returned, a new study has found.

In the vast majority of cases of suspected contamination, no one gets seriously ill or dies. But it’s impossible to know what happened to people who unknowingly ate recalled food that should have been sent back to the processing plants.

While acknowledging that testing for microbes has become more sensitive and faster and that surveillance has improved, study coauthor Neal Hooker says the findings suggest the food safety system isn’t working well enough.

The federal government in 1998 began the three-year phase-in of a program to reduce food hazards. Hooker, an assistant professor of agricultural, environmental and developmental economics at Ohio State University in Columbus, reviewed federal records of meat and poultry recalls from 1998 to 2002. Although he expected more progress in improving recovery rates after the program went into effect, Hooker said those rates were “fairly consistent at about 50% over the whole period over all types of recall.”

“We think it’s important that if you have to recall, you want to have as effective a recall as possible,” said Hooker. He suggested that improved record-keeping by meat distributors and informing the public about the retail outlets that sold the suspicious products could make recalls more effective. Another option under debate is giving the government mandatory recall authority.

According to his analysis of data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service, 74% of recalls in 1998-2002 were classified Class I, meaning they posed the greatest threat of severe disease or death. He found that 57% involved bacterial contamination, most commonly for strains of E. coli or Listeria monocytogenes. The findings appear in the July issue of the journal Food Control, which is available online.