Topps Beef Recall-Sparked “Test and Hold” Policy No Longer Upheld
November 23rd, 2007 laurie
On Thursday, the Manitoba Co-operator reported the lifting of the “test and hold” policy put into place by the U.S. on Canadian meat shipments on November 8 after Canada’s Ranchers Beef packing plant was linked to the Topps beef recall, one of the largest meat recalls in U.S. history. The same strain of E. coli O157:H7 which sickened at least 40 U.S. residents and a slightly higher number of Canadian residents (including one Canadian death) who ate the recalled Topps beef was linked to samples from Ranchers Beef.
The “test and hold” policy would delay meat shipments coming from Canada across the U.S. border for at least three days as tests were run for E. coli O157:H7, salmonella and listeria. The USDA was very vocal earlier this month when it said it would “require that shipments be held until testing is complete and products are confirmed negative for these pathogens.”
Fast forward two weeks, and the “hold” in “test and hold” is no longer being upheld. Per the Manitoba Co-operator, “While FSIS provided no reason for lifting the “test and hold” requirement, Masswohl suggested to Co-operator reporter Ron Friesen that either FSIS [USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service] saw what kind of effect its move had on shipments from Canada, or the FSIS safety audit shows no compelling reason for the measure to continue.”
Apparently, the health of U.S. consumers is not a compelling enough reason.
John Masswohl, director of international relations for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, told the Manitoba Co-operator on November 22 that “They’re still with the increased level of testing but product doesn’t have to sit and wait until the answers come back.”
In other words, go ahead and ship that contaminated meat to the customers. That way, more people can get sick or die while they’re waiting for the tests to come back and the recalls to be issued, just like last time. Seems the USDA learns lessons the hard way, or not at all in cases like this one.
