WASHINGTON - Food safety experts from the meat industry and consumer groups gather this week for the first major meeting on U.S. meat inspection since last month's massive recall of hamburger patties linked to a deadly strain of the E. coli bacteria.
The National Advisory Committee for Meat and Poultry Inspection will consider policy issues at the three-day meeting that begins on Tuesday, including interstate shipments of state-inspected food and the government's new Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system.
Also on the agenda, what role federal meat inspectors should play after high-tech HACCP-based inspection procedures begin at large meat processing plants next January. Previously, inspectors relied on sight and smell to certify that meat and poultry was safe to eat. The new inspection rules require scientific-testing for disease-causing bacteria.
Jacque Knight, spokeswoman for the U.S. Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service, said the department would heed the panel's recommendations when it makes policy decisions.
The meeting comes just weeks after USDA pressed Hudson Foods Inc. to close its Nebraska beef processing plant and recall a record 25 million pounds of hamburger after 17 people became ill in Colorado after eating Hudson meat.
Health officials found some of the Hudson beef contaminated with a virulent form of the E. coli bacteria that can cause severe diarrhea and cramps, dehydration, and in some cases, kidney failure.
USDA investigators are working to determine the source of the contamination.
In the wake of the recall, Hudson exited the hamburger business with the planned sale of its Columbus, Neb., plant to meatpacker IBP Inc. Last week, Tyson Foods Inc. said it would buy Hudson in a deal worth about $650 million.
The Clinton Administration is asking Congress for power to order a recall of tainted meat and to fine foodmakers. The meat industry opposes the legislation, and industry representatives will likely use the three-day meeting to make their case.
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