GLICKMAN ANNOUNCES IMPROVEMENT IN TESTING FOR E. COLI O157:H7
                                             Release No.0362.99
                                                               
                                    Andy Solomon (202) 720-4623
                                          andy.solomon@usda.gov
                                     Carol Blake (202) 720-9113
                                           carol.blake@usda.gov


GLICKMAN ANNOUNCES IMPROVEMENT IN TESTING FOR E. COLI O157:H7

     WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 1999 -- Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
announced that USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has begun
using a more sensitive method for detecting E. coli 0157:H7 in raw meat
products.  The new method is approximately four times more sensitive than
previous methods, greatly increasing the probability of detecting very low
levels of the potentially dangerous pathogen.

     "This is another significant step forward in our continuing efforts to
protect consumers from foodborne illness," said Glickman.  

     FSIS conducts E. coli O157:H7 tests on samples collected at federally-
inspected plants that produce ground beef and at the approximately 100,000
retail outlets that grind beef on a regular basis.  FSIS's testing program has
also stimulated industry action to reduce the presence of the pathogen in
ground beef.  The new testing method, called "immunomagnetic separation"
(IMS), will be incorporated into the standard procedures in use in all three
FSIS field service laboratories. 

     E. coli O157:H7 can cause serious illness or death when consumed in
contaminated foods.  Water and a variety of foods can harbor the pathogen. 
Because consumers may not cook meat thoroughly enough to kill pathogens that
have been introduced below the surface, FSIS has declared that raw ground beef
and other non-intact raw beef contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 is
adulterated.  FSIS advises consumers to use a thermometer and cook ground beef
to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.         

     The IMS method begins after a screening test identifies a potentially
positive sample.  Antibody-coated magnetic beads recognize and capture E. coli
O157:H7 cells in meat product enrichment broths.  A magnetic device captures
the beads after they bind to the pathogen.  As a result, live E. coli O157:H7
cells are concentrated to facilitate growth and detection on special agar
culture media.  E. coli O157:H7 is then confirmed by standard FSIS procedures.

     The test will be used effective immediately in FSIS' Athens, Ga.,
laboratory and will be incorporated at the other FSIS laboratories in Alameda,
Calif., and St. Louis, Mo., as soon as the necessary equipment is in place. 
Until all laboratories are properly equipped, all E. coli O157:H7 tests will
be conducted at the Athens laboratory.
     
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