Meatpackers Offer to Expand Testing

U.S. meatpackers on Monday offered to test one in every 300 cattle carcasses for a deadly strain of the E. coli bacteria to help safeguard the nation’s beef supply and keep tougher federal rules at bay. The experimental program was hurriedly developed by the industry after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in January that it might broaden a federal policy to make more kinds of beef subject to strict food safety rules. Consumer groups endorsed the idea of more voluntary testing by meat plants but expressed concern that the rate of testing may not be high enough. The biggest U.S. meatpackers, Excel Corp., IBP Inc. and ConAgra, unveiled a proposed pilot program at a USDA public hearing after acknowledging that the industry must become “more aggressive” in combating the virulent E. coli 0157:H7. Under the industry plan, meatpackers would test one of every 300 cattle carcasses for possible contamination with the bacteria.