Losing Lives To Listeria - bacteria Listeria monocytogenes - Brief Article

Nutrition Action Healthletter, April, 2000 by Michael F. Jacobson

Bil Mar. It's been a little over a year, but the name still makes people shudder.

In December 1998, the Bil Mar plant in Zeeland, Michigan, recalled more than 30 million pounds of hot dogs and luncheon meats that it had produced for the Sara Lee Corporation, its owner. The meat was contaminated with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. The eventual toll: 21 dead (including six miscarriages) and 100 taken ill. (Symptoms can be so mild that pregnant women don't even know that they've been infected until they miscarry or bear a child with a birth defect.)

The outbreak highlighted two gaps in consumer protection:

* No mandatory testing. Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) banned hazardous types of Listeria in ready-to-eat foods more than ten years ago, it has never required meat processors to test their products and plants for the bacteria. The excuse: the USDA says that it doesn't have enough data on how much testing would cost the industry.

* No mandatory recalls. Because Congress has never given the USDA the authority to require recalls, the agency has to ask meat and poultry processors to voluntarily recall tainted food. That's a recipe for disaster.

Consumers shouldn't have to wait for more outbreaks--and more unnecessary deaths--before the government acts. You can help by mailing or e-mailing this coupon, or by writing the USDA in your own words.

Michael F. Jacobson Executive Director Center for Science in the Public Interest