Loophole in law allows salmonella-contaminated meat to be sold to consumers
In the US, the law allows meat to be sold that contains the bacteria salmonella. Even though other bacteria that causes illness in humans, including e. coli, is considered an “adulterant,” salmonella is not. An adulterant in food is something that the food contains that prohibits it from passing food safety legal standards. So, foods that contain e. coli are not allowed to be sold to consumers, while meat contaminated with salmonella can be sold.
The identification of e. coli as an adulterant in 1994 was the first time such a food-borne bacteria that posed a health hazard was labeled as such. That law prevented the affected food product from going on the market. Today, even though salmonella causes illnesses in a million people and takes several hundred lives every year, it is still not labeled as an adulterant.
Part of the challenge is financial. Most meat plants do use appropriate sanitation measures when processing their meat products, to reduce salmonella levels as much as possible. However, implementing a zero-tolerance policy for salmonella would require additional food safety inspections as well as additional cleaning lines at the production level. Food safety concerns are prevalent in the meat industry, but so are concerns about the cost of production, sanitation, and the bottom line profits.
Reports of food poisoning, particularly of salmonella contamination, arise virtually every week, if not every day. Food safety concerns about the quality of US meat have also moved across the sea, to the United Kingdom. The UK is fearful that “dirty” meat, contaminated by lack of poor hygiene or that is simply allowed to pass current legal standards, will be exported to their country.
For more information about the legal loophole in the US allowing meat contaminated with salmonella to be sold to consumers, contact the food poisoning lawyers at 1-888-335-4901.
