Traceback Of Meat And Poultry
Next Frontier For Food Safety

WASHINGTON —(AP)— Using bar codes on packages and DNA tests on microbes, health officials are increasingly adept at precisely tracing outbreaks of food-borne illness to stores, restaurants and food processing plants.

There remains, however, a missing link: no one has devised a surefire way to trace illness-causing food back to the farm.

In 1994, then-Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy proposed legislation to give the government authority to trace meat and poultry to its farm source, as well as the ability to stop movement of animals if a problem is found. The bill went nowhere.

Espy's successor, Dan Glickman, decided not to include farm tracing authority in his current food safety proposal that would grant the Agriculture Department mandatory recall powers and the ability to levy civil fines.

"We did not view that the science was well-enough developed to determine how to even do trace-back," Glickman said. However, Glickman added, "It's not one we have closed the door on."

But agriculture is not waiting for government regulation. The cattle industry in particular is examining ways to use eartags, computerized records, even electronic animal implants to track animals from farm to table.

Cattle present a big challenge because they often change hands several times — from rancher to stocker to feedlot — before reaching the packer. The same is not true for chickens, which are tightly controlled by the processing company from egg to grocery case.

"If it is necessary to get back to the farm level, it is rather easy," said Richard Lobb, spokesman for the National Broiler Council.

Ken Olson, dairy and animal health specialist at the American Farm Bureau, said the cattle industry is examining ways to use one system not only for food safety but also to track the animals' health and to improve the quality of the beef.

"We want to tie it together," Olson said. "It's more easily perceived as a value for producers if they can incorporate it into their management."

There is a fear factor among some producers, mainly because there are so many ways for pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella to enter the food chain.

"One of the concerns is that they get unfairly blamed for things they have no control over," Olson said.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association, however, has approved a resolution expressing support for "an industry-driven, voluntary, universal electronic identification system."

Pork producers already have a mandatory system of animal identification, but it is geared toward disease control and quality of the meat. And problems have occurred with tags falling off some sows and boars, the National Pork Producers Council said.

Beth Lautner, the pork council's vice president for science and technology, said the group does not support animal identification systems aimed at tracing food-borne illness to its farm source.

"We really don't think it's appropriate to trace back, because we don't know what we would do at the farm level," she said.

Even more challenging is tracing outbreaks caused by fruit or vegetables to a farm. Produce is handled by numerous middlemen, it can be packed and repacked and mixed together, and trucks can be abruptly diverted from one city to another to take advantage of prices.

Still, United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Producers vice president John Aguirre said the industry is looking at ways of including more information on shipping cartons about the location and date of harvest.

"If it is done properly, if there is adequate flexibility, it could be of great benefit," he said. "We're all in the same collective boat here, wondering what gives rise to microbiological problems."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently developing guidelines for fruit and vegetable growers aimed at reducing potential for contamination on the farm. The Agriculture Department's focus with meat and poultry remains at the processing plant or slaughterhouse, where government inspectors are, but the agency is encouraging voluntary efforts.