Controlling Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli to Improve Beef SafetyControlling Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli to Improve Beef Safety
STEC Controlling Shiga Toxin-producing E. Coli to improve beef safety across the food chain.
STEC infection can be acquired through direct contact with cattle
STEC can be detected by molecular (DNA)-based methods 
Beef cuts
STEC bacteria attach to cells in the intestine and release Shiga toxin
STEC can be detected by culture-based methods
Cattle of all ages are potential carriers of STEC
At the minimum, ground beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160F
Spring 2013
Video Observation and Video Coding Methods to Access Food Handling Practices at Food Service
20 years after deadly E. coli outbreak, some food safety standards fading
Seminar Announcment: Meat Safety Management in a Complex World by Scott Goltry, Vice President of Technical Services, American Meat Institute, February 26th, 4:00pm The live stream will be available at
http://www.vet.k-state.edu/liveStream/liveStream.htm
Fall 2012
UNL 2012 Research Report: Reducing Health Risks from E.coli
Nebraska Farmer November issue: "UNL leading effort to corral E. coli"
Secretary's Honor Award to member of the USDA STEC Team (Source: USDA-ARS)
Cost of E. coli O157 infections at $244 million annually in Canada (Source: meatingplace.com)
North Carolina fair linked to E. coli outbreak (barfblog.com)
Table of petting zoo outbreaks (Source: Bites KSU)
Research at Level-3 Laboratory Paving the Way for Food Safety, Health For All
Barf Blog Food safety news from North Carolina State's Ben Chapman
Tweets by @benjaminchapmanBites - Safe Food from Farm to Fork Food safety news from Kansas State University
February 13, 2012, Making a Difference, 2013 Report to the Kansas State Legistrature, "Multistate Effort Launched to Improve Beef Safety"
A food safety outbreak affects consumers, those who produce and process the
food, and the economic stability of the food industry. To improve beef safety and
prevent outbreaks, K-State scientists are working with counterparts across the
country through a $25 million USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative
(AFRI) coordinated agricultural program grant.
Jan. 20, 2012 "STEC-8: Prevention, Recovery, Characterization, and Control across the Beef Chain"
AFRI Grant funds multi-disciplinary effort in improving beef safety.
A $25 million grant through USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) and administered through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has been awarded to a multi institutional, multi-disciplinary team of land-grant universities and government agencies led by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The team will conduct research and educate on how STEC contamination and outbreaks occur and spread throughout the beef production/processing chain, and on how science and technology can best be used to mitigate STEC risks. New and enhanced knowledge from this work will yield practical, effective information and communication tools to reduce STEC risk from beef.
Don't Miss this Session!
Media Training for STEC CAP Outreach
Tuesday, May 28, 3-5 p.m, Embassy Suites, Lincoln, NE
STEC CAP Annual Conference Next week we will embark on our first STEC CAP Annual Conference to discuss the accomplishments and progress that has been made with ‘STEC in the Beef Chain: Assessing and Mitigating the Risk by Translational Science, Education, and Outreach’. We have over 95 people registered for the meeting with an ambitious agenda of collaborative discussions, round-tables, and working groups. We invite you to download an agenda at http://www.k-state.edu/vet/stec-13/schedule/.
The meeting will kick off at 3:00pm on Tuesday, May 28th with a Media Training session lead by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, followed by a poster session and welcome reception. Wednesday will be a full day of collaboration, led by our Program Officer, Jeanette Thurston, National Program Leader, Division of Food Safety at the USDA. The evening dinner is graciously being hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the Nebraska Natural History Museum. The conference concludes on Thursday morning with a joint meeting of the advisory boards and grant leadership team. Progress on this grant is moving swiftly and we need all of your input for its continued success.
STEC CAP teams expands efforts to include veal
In response to industry/regulatory concerns related to a potential higher occurrence of STEC in veal trim compared with beef trim we have channeled our energies and resources into a STEC CAP veal safety initiative. These efforts have already generated some timely and tangible outcomes. As one example, we quantified the fate of STEC in mechanically tenderized veal cutlets following cooking on an electric skillet. This study was supported in part by our STEC CAP and via a grant with a veal processor. The processor also contributed raw materials and several hundred pounds of veal in support of this research. Read more in News.
This project was supported by Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Grant No. 2012-68003-30155 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Prevention, Detection and Control of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli (STEC) from Pre-Harvest Through Consumption of Beef Products Program-A4101.
