E. coli is one of the most notorious bacteria out there, and for good reason. E. coli is behind many food-borne infections. Since this bacteria can be found virtually anywhere, including meat products and fresh produce, it can spread to people.

In the past year, there have been reports of E. coli outbreaks in Ohio, Michigan, New York and Colorado. In response, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has ordered a complete review of the USDA's food safety regulations with new food safety rules expected to be officially proposed this year.

Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released results from a 2008 Health and Diet survey indicating that a majority of consumers do, in fact, read food labels because they are beginning to get a better understanding the role proper nutrition plays in lowering the risk of chronic diseases. According to the survey, more consumers “often read labels to determine the amount of calories, salts, vitamins or fat contained in the food products they are buying.” Choosing healthy, safe food is always music to our ears!

But the labels on food packaging can tell us more than just the nutritional content. There is another teensy little label that has a pretty big impact on food safety, especially when it comes to meat and poultry products – the expiration date.

One might think the meaning of an expiration label is self-explanatory, but this is not always the case. Actually, expiration labels are often called “dating labels” – but don’t confuse these with dinner and a movie dates. These labels are used to indicate how long your food should stay fresh.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), by reading so-called dating labels, we can learn more than the date that the meat goes bad. For example, if you own a grocery store, these labels help you and your employees determine how long to keep products like meat, eggs and cheese available for sale. And before adding a gallon of milk to their carts, shoppers can look to dating labels to see how long the milk will taste its best.

But while these labels are helpful when you’re trying to determine how long you should keep a porterhouse, it’s really important to remember these dates don’t guarantee the food is safe.

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"

Did you think we forgot about you? Guess again! We've been busy working on new and exciting Chew on This podcasts to educated consumers about food safety issues. And now it's time to release our latest podcast: Campylobacter Q&A.

Campylobacter is a leading cause of global foodborne illness, but it is often misunderstood. What is it? How dangerous is it? Why have a lot of us never heard of it?

In this new Chew on This podcast, Dr. Christine Hoang, assistant director of the AVMA’s Scientific Activities Division, answers these questions and tells us what systems are in place to keep our food safe from campylobacter. In our new podcast, we answer questions about “campy.” Listen now.

By the way, if you missed our last podcast, which discussed the ABCs of E. Coli, you can listen to it now.