You may have heard that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently announced new measures to combat foodborne illnesses caused by E. coli.

“Over the last eight months since President Obama took office, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been aggressive in its efforts to improve food safety, and has been an active partner in establishing and contributing to President Obama's Food Safety Working Group (FSWG),” Vilsack stated in a recent USDA press release.

The president created the FSWG, which is charged with developing food safety policies, shortly after coming into office. The FSWG has since identified prevention as its first priority. While no new funding has been allocated, the FSWG has recommended that inspectors prioritize prevention by using science-based data to focus on foods and products that present the most risk.

The FSWG is also pushing for quicker response to outbreaks through the development of new food-tracing systems, which would help speed the process of tracking down the source of of the contamination. Currently, the USDA is looking at ways to enhance trace-back methods that would require all grinders, processors, distributors and stores to maintain accurate records in order to enhance the ability of public health officials to respond to and, hopefully, stop future outbreaks. In addition, the FSWG is developing a new incident command system that would link all relevant agencies -- and state and local governments -- in order to facilitate quicker communication and decision making during an emergency.

These efforts also include a new USDA initiative to step up inspections of meat processing facilities. This effort includes something new -- conducting routine sampling of bench trim for E. coli. Bench trim is pieces of meat that remain after steaks and other cuts of beef are produced. Bench trim is routinely used in ground beef and often suspected during E. coli outbreaks. This new procedure will create an added layer of protection, and it could mean that the same piece of beef could be tested twice, once before it’s ground and then a second time after it is made into hamburger. This new testing pays particular attention to more dangerous strains of E. coli (E. coli O157:H7). Other changes include:

* new USDA instructions to federal inspectors asking that they verify sanitary practices at beef processing plants;

* a newly appointed chief medical officer to the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service to reaffirm its role as a public health agency;

* and new USDA industry guidelines on how to control E. coli O157:H7 contamination. It’s interesting to see that some companies in the private sector jumped on the bandwagon soon after Vilsack’s announcement. Costco, for one, announced its own expanded testing program for E. coli in the ground beef it sells. Costco had been negotiating with some of its suppliers for some time to be allowed to test ingredients in ground beef before grinding. Now the giant retailer has reached an accord with Tyson, one of the largest beef producers in America, which would allow Costco to test beef trimmings before they are ground into Tyson ground beef. This is a major step, because many American grinders and beef processors have reportedly been slow to allow testing of components of ground beef.

All of this is great news for those of us who like a good, juicy hamburger once in a while, not to mention all those other classic American dishes that involve ground beef. Although more testing will undoubtedly cause some headaches and added expense for stores and meat processors, we think the end result—safer food for our families to eat—is worth the cost.

Learn more about the dangers of E. coli by listening to the Chew on This Podcast: "The ABC's of E. coli"