Food safety group issues warning about E.coli risk in minced beef and burgers

The Food Safety Authority has issued a "strong warning" of the danger of potentially fatal E.coli in Irish minced beef and beefburgers.

The warning came after a one-year study of mince and beefburgers in shops which found that 2.8 per cent of samples were contaminated with E.coli 0157:H7, sometimes at levels as high as 10,000 bacteria per gram of product.

In a statement issued yesterday Dr Patrick Wall, the authority's chief executive, said "an unacceptable share of the responsibility" for ensuring the safety of beef and mince was being placed on the consumer.

And he called for specialist processing and package-labelling to produce and identify products which have been rendered free from E.coli 0157.

Dr Wall said the measures were particularly important to protect the vulnerable, such as the elderly or the sick.

The bacteria can cause a wide range of symptoms including diarrhoea, bloody diarrhoea, sickness and kidney failure, leading to death.

The number of cases reported in the Republic has risen steadily since 1996, when there were eight, to 52 in 2001.

According to the authority the situation would be worse were households to undercook the food. Dr Wall praised the "diligence" shown by consumers cooking the product thoroughly in the home.

However, he said the level of contamination posed a serious ongoing risk to consumers.

"The consumer is taking an unacceptable share of the responsibility to control this bacteria.

"It is only when everything that can be done is being done that it is reasonable to expect consumers to eliminate any residual risk by cooking in their kitchens," he said.

Livestock, both beef and dairy cattle, are the principal sources of E.coli 0157:H7.

While there is limited information on the presence of E.coli in the Republic, recent research has indicated that 44 per cent of herds in England and Wales carry the bacteria, sometimes as part of the gut, without making the livestock ill.

Dr Wall said if the meat production and processing industry was unable to reduce the risk sufficiently additional efforts must be made.

For example, he said, pre-cooked frozen beefburgers were available, "and irradiation is a proven process for eliminating pathogenic micro-organisms in raw meat products."

The clear labelling of such products could help identify which products the consumer might use.