Food Safety Program That Tests for E. coli and Other Dangerous Pathogens on the Chopping Block
On the heals of the deadly outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O104:H4 (E. coli O104:H4) infections in Germany linked to fresh sprouts, Congress may eliminate the Microbiological Data Program, the only national program screening U.S. fruits and vegetables for this and other non-O157 E. coli strains. The program tests about 15,000 samples annually of sprouts, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, cantaloupe and cilantro for a cost of about $4.5 million. The House has already voted to eliminate the program, and the Senate will be making its decision soon.
It is vitally important for the Microbiological Data Program to continue testing fruits and vegetables because the likelihood is that E. coli O104:H4 and other dangerous mutations of E. coli will show up in the United States. E. coli O104:H4 has the ability to stick to cells in the intestine (characteristic of enteroaggregative E coli) and make Shiga toxin (characteristic of Shiga-toxin-producing E coli, for example E. coli O157). It is the Shiga toxin that cause hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), the leading cause of kidney failure in children in the United States.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-pathogen-program-20110704,0,7549423.story
