Meat + Poultry - September 2010 - 103

CONTROLLING E. COLI

be implemented, but "should" they be
incorporated. "That gets into some
of the future research of what is the
contribution and what is their value
within a production system."
Loneragan says while many of the
newer interventions to control patho-

the technologies offer to the entire
food-safety supply chain will also be
addressed. The focus of his presentation will then shift to a macro level,
as Loneragan will encourage attendees to consider not only "if" the interventions work and how they could

WLB

NMFH
41

CVP

QUALITY. EFFICIENCY. EXPERIENCE.
FPF
WFH

RLB

RIG-A-LITE leads the food processing
industry in innovative solutions designed to
perform in demanding environments - like
yours!
We offer a complete line of lighting products
rated for high-pressure hose down, corrosive
and other severe environments suitable for
DOPRVW DQ\ DSSOLFDWLRQ XVLQJ ÀXRUHVFHQW
incandescent, HID and LED lamping.
Delivering the right quantity and quality of
light while saving on energy and maintenance
costs, RIG-A-LITE is the company to partner
with for results.
Contact us today to experience the R-A-L
difference because Relationships Add value
to Lighting!

www.rigalite.com
713.943.0340
82 * Meat&Poultry * September 2010 * www.MeatPoultry.com

gens show promise, the threat posed
by E. coli cannot be eliminated by
simply plugging in a technology into
an operation. As the industry continues to search for solutions, he points
out, "It's not going to be a single intervention and it's not going to be a
matter of just stacking interventions
on top of one another."
Instead, developing real-world solutions involves understanding how
each intervention contributes to the
overall system. The food-safety goal
for the industry should be to discover
how to design a cross-sector system to
ensure public health. "We're trying to
better understand how we can employ
technologies and interventions in an
informed way to make a system that
ensures we continue to supply wholesome products," he says.
The promise of vaccines used
to control E. coli has gained plenty
of attention dating back to 2006,
when Canada's Bioniche Life Sciences introduced a vaccine to control
O157:H7 in live cattle. The vaccine
has not yet been granted a conditional license in the U.S. but is used in
Canada. However, Epitopix, based in
Willmar, Minn., received conditional
approval from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture in early 2009 to sell its E. coli
vaccine to beef-cattle producers and
processors. Based on field tests, the
vaccine eliminated 99 percent of the
pathogen among cattle testing positive for E. coli. It reduced the overall
number of cattle testing positive by
85 percent. Vaccines, says Loneragan,
are but another arrow in the quiver
of food-safety officials. "We know
how to use vaccines so this is an easy
implementation to some degree," he
says, pointing out that despite some
challenges, this type of control is effective. With a variety of interventions being refi ned and proven successful in controlling E. coli, "We're
fast approaching having a toolbox of
a variety of different interventions,"
says Loneragan. "In a short period
of time, we hope the producers who
want to implement an intervention

http://www.rigalite.com http://www.MeatPoultry.com

Meat + Poultry - September 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meat + Poultry - September 2010