(CIDRAP News) – The percentage of tested ground beef samples that federal meat inspectors found to be contaminated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 declined in 2004 for the fourth year in a row.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that 0.17% (14 of 8,010) ground beef samples tested in 2004 contained the potentially deadly pathogen. That compared with 0.30% in 2003, 0.78% in 2004, 0.84% in 2001, and 0.86% in 2000.