AMIC Statement on E.

coli incident in beef in the USA DAFF Biosecurity recently received notification from US authorities that ground beef in the USA had tested positive for Escherichia coli O157:H7 and that Australian beef had been implicated in the detection. Following tracing of the export consignment it was confirmed that: The implicated Australian product was found negative through the Australian E.coli 0157:H7 testing program prior to export and complied with the relevant US testing program. The consignment met US import requirements and was cleared by US border authorities. Discussions are ongoing with all parties concerned while confirmation of the source of the contamination is being progressed. Contamination can occur at any part of the supply chain. The US processing plants associated with the detection issued a recall of the product. The recall action was voluntary and did not occur as a result of formal action by US authorities. The Australian Meat Industry takes extremely seriously customer concerns about food safety and continually strives to improve our food safety system and the integrity of Australian meat. We work closely with the Australian Government to ensure that Australia meets community and customer expectations world wide. The government has a direct role inspecting and verifying compliance against strict performance standards on processing sites. This system utilises the presence of a full time government Veterinarian assessing the incoming stock and oversighting the production and inspection process, and a full time government Food Safety Meat Assessor inspecting each carcase. The Food Safety Meat Assessor is assisted in the routine inspection tasks by as many additional official inspectors as required. It is ascientificallybased inspection system which underpins the production of wholesome meat and meat products. The system is subject to external audits from Senior Australian Government veterinarians and by foreign officials representing many of our major trading partners. All meat produced in Australia for export and domestic consumption remains safe. We produce meat for the world to the highest quality and hygiene standards and our industry and regulatory systems continue to respond and adapt to the ever increasing international food safety demands which are becoming increasingly focused on microbiological issues. The Australian Meat industry continues to have an enviable food safety reputation world wide.