WASHINGTON - U.S. regulators have tightened restrictions on meat and poultry products from Canada because of concerns about testing practices at a Canadian firm that was the likely source of bacteria-contaminated meat that sickened 40 people in eight states.
The Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service said it will increase testing of Canadian meat for salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7. The inspection service will require that shipments be held up until testing is completed and the meats are proven to be clear of these problems.
The Canadian firm, Rancher's Beef Ltd. of Balzac, Alberta, was linked in October to a multistate outbreak of E. coli infections involving the Topps Meat Co. of Elizabeteh, N.J. A massive recall forced Topps out of business.
Rancher's Beef, which has ceased operations, had supplied Topps with beef trim used to make hamburger patties, the USDA said.
The inspection service will "immediately begin an audit of the Canadian food safety system that will focus on Rancher's Beef Ltd. and will include other similar establishments that export beef to the U.S.," said Richard Raymond, top food safety official for the USDA.
A joint U.S.-Canadian investigation matched the DNA fingerprint of E. coli O157:H7 bacteria isolated from beef trim that had remained in storage with Rancher's Beef to samples taken from victims of the food poisoning outbreak and packages of Topps frozen hamburgers.
In a separate recall, Cargill Inc. of Minneapolis said it is recalling more than 1 million pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli.
No illnesses have been reported, said John Keating, president of Cargill Regional Beef.
A spokeswoman for Cargill said 10 states are included in that recall:
Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
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