E. coli

Recent USDA Report Shows: Nearly 1 in 300 Samples of Ground Beef Contain E. coli

November 19, 2009 -- Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the first New York senator to sit on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years, announced today the introduction of the E. coli Eradication Act - legislation she authored that would for the first time federally mandate testing of all ground beef for E. coli.    » read more »

Asks IG to investigate scientific merits and potential shortcomings of industry testing method adopted by FSIS

November 12, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT) today, in light of the recent E. coli outbreak involving ground beef, sent a letter to the USDA Office of the Inspector General (IG) calling for an investigation into the scientific merits and potential shortcoming of the N-60 testing protocol, which is a beef testing protocol promoted by the meat industry and relied upon by USDA. The N-60 testing protocol is used by most of the largest beef trim manufacturers to verify that product is free from E. coli.    » read more »

Gillibrand Says Over 900 Food Products Have Been Recalled for Various Violations from New York City Shelves Since 2005

October 18, 2009 -- New York, NY - In response to a new report out this month from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) showing nearly 1 out of every 300 samples of ground beef contains E. coli, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the first New York senator to sit on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years, joined today with consumers who have contracted E. coli from contaminated food, plus medical and food safety experts to announce the E. coli Eradication Act.    » read more »

October 16, 2009 -- Washington, DC - In response to a statement from the American Meat Institute that said that the E. coli Eradication Act authored by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand would only "duplicate" testing currently being done by the industry, Senator Gillibrand said that in the absence of corporate responsibility, Congress must act.

"The meat industry makes some valuable points about the need to handle and cook ground beef carefully, but they are choosing to ignore their own best practices. Leading processors in the industry, like Costco, have already determined that they cannot rely on suppliers alone to test the meat. Costco says that testing the meat they receive from slaughterhouses is ‘incumbent upon' them, and I agree.    » read more »

Contaminated Food Kills 5,700 Americans Each Year – Nation’s Food Safety Laws Have Not Been Overhauled In A Century

October 14, 2009 -- Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the first New York senator to sit on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years, today announced a comprehensive plan to overhaul the nation's food safety laws by improving inspection, recall response, and public education. A cornerstone of Senator Gillibrand's plan is new legislation to mandate E. coli inspections of ground beef.    » read more »

October 05, 2009 -- "The story we learned about over the weekend is unacceptable and tragic. We all know we can and should do more to protect the safety of the American people and the story in this weekend's paper will continue to spur our efforts to reduce the incidence of E. coli O157:H7. Over the last eight months since President Obama took office, USDA has been aggressive in its efforts to improve food safety, and has been an active partner in establishing and contributing to President Obama's Food Safety Working Group.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2009 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U. S. Department of Agriculture has issued a conditional license to Epitopix, LLC, of Willmar, Minn., for a vaccine to reduce the prevalence of E. coli O157 in feedlot cattle.

"Providing the American people with safe and nutritious food is a top priority for President Obama and the U.S. Department of Agriculture," Vilsack said. "The conditional licensing of this vaccine is an important step toward our goal of improving food safety in this country."    » read more »

2/17/2008 -- Statement from Sen. Hillary Clinton:    » read more »

February 18, 2008, Chicago, IL -- Senator Barack Obama released a statement on the Department of Agriculture's decision to recall 143 million pounds of frozen beef that came from "downed" animals. The consumption of downed cattle can pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease.

Senator Barack Obama released the following statement:    » read more »

November 7, 2007 -- NEWARK – New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram is advising state Attorneys General throughout the country to increase inspections of retail stores for recalled frozen hamburgers because Division of Consumer Affairs and Department of Health and Senior Services investigators continue to find these products for sale in New Jersey.    » read more »

October 30, 2007 -- Newark – A total of 138 boxes of frozen hamburger and beef products recalled by the Topps Meat Company because of potential E.coli contamination have been found on the shelves in seven stores in Hudson County, New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram and Acting Consumer Affairs Director Larry DeMarzo announced today.    » read more »

Records Sought from NYC-Based Distributor

October 25, 2007 -- NEWARK – New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs investigators yesterday purchased recalled Topps frozen hamburgers in a Union City store and immediately issued a subpoena seeking information from the New York City-based distributor who sold the hamburgers to the store, New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram and Acting Consumer Affairs Director Larry DeMarzo announced.    » read more »

Bentonville, ARK., October 5, 2007 -- the Minnesota Department of Health announced it is investigating four cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection in Minnesota residents associated with eating frozen ground beef patties manufactured by Cargill Inc., and purchased from Sam’s Club beginning August 26, 2007 with an expiration date of February 12, 2008 at Eagan, Maple Grove and White Bear Lake locations.    » read more »

Product removed from store shelves; customers asked to return or destroy

October 5, 2007 -- State health and agriculture officials are investigating four cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection in Minnesota residents associated with eating ground beef patties purchased from Sam’s Club stores in August and September.    » read more »

October 1, 2007 -- Twenty-five E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in eight states and the recall of 21.7 million pounds of frozen ground beef products are powerful reminders that the federal meat and poultry inspection system must be strengthened and not dismantled in favor of state by state regulation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is currently overseeing the massive nationwide recall.    » read more »