TEXAS TECH ANNOUNCES RESEARCH BREAKTHROUGH IN E. COLI PREVENTION
Texas Tech University, along with the American Meat Institute Foundation, announced today (April 24), a research breakthrough in the prevention of E. coli O157:H7 in live cattle. Researchers have found that a probiotic, or “good bacteria,” normally fed to cattle to enhance performance, also reduces instances of E. coli O157:H7 by 50 to 60 percent.
(PRWEB) April 26, 2002
LUBBOCK – Texas Tech University, along with the American Meat Institute Foundation, announced today (April 24), a research breakthrough in the prevention of E. coli O157:H7 in live cattle. Researchers have found that a probiotic, or “good bacteria,” normally fed to cattle to enhance performance, also reduces instances of E. coli O157:H7 by 50 to 60 percent.
Mindy Brashears, Ph. D., a food safety scientist in Texas TechÂ’s Department of Animal and Food Science, described the probiotic, Lactobacillus acidophilus, as similar to the bacteria commonly added to yogurt. Cattle often are fed Lactobacillus acidophilus to enhance the ratio of weight gain to feed intake. The research was done by Brashears and Michael Galyean, Ph. D., also of Texas TechÂ’s Department of Animal and Food Science.
Brashears said eradicating pathogens like E. coli in live animals is a farm to table approach. “There are many interventions in the processing plant but very few in the feed lot environment. If we reduce it in the live animal, we reduce it in the processing plant and ultimately there is less in the ground beef and other beef products that arrive on the consumer’s table,” Brashears said.
Brashears and Galyean fed 180 steers one of three diets: a standard diet of grain and roughage, which served as the control group, or a standard diet that also included one of two strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus.
The researchers analyzed fecal samples from the cattle when they arrived at the Texas Tech lab, and every 28 days thereafter until they received probiotic supplementation. After a 60-day supplementation period began, samples were analyzed every 14 days. Researchers used USDA test methods – considered the most sensitive available – to detect the presence of E. coli O157:H7.
Researchers conducted the study during the summer months, when cattle are known to shed more E. coli O157:H7. The numbers of cattle testing positive for E. coli O157:H7 varied from 18 to 19 percent during the mid-feeding period, to less than 10 percent near slaughter. The cattle fed the probiotics, however, showed major reductions in incidence rates. The group of cattle fed one particular strain known as NPC 750 saw a 50 percent drop in the incidence of E. coli O157:H7.
In addition to reducing this pathogen, the probiotic is extremely cost-effective. The researchers estimate the cost of feed supplementation at roughly one cent per animal per day. The low costs are offset by improvements in feed conversion. “Our research affirms the benefits of probiotics in preventing E. coli O157:H7 in cattle,” Brashears said.
“In the same way that acidophilus in dairy products has health benefits for humans, this particular strain of Lactobacillus acidophilus clearly reduces the incidence of pathogenic bacteria in the gut of animals.”
BrashearsÂ’ findings confirm data from preliminary trials. Further confirmatory research studies are underway, which if successful will lead to commercial field trials. These field trials are aimed at affirming the benefits of this particular strain of Lactobacillus acidophilus.
AMI Foundation Vice President of Scientific Affairs Randall Huffman, Ph. D., stressed the commitment of the U. S. meat industry to enhancing the safety of beef products. “This new research is another tool in the food safety toolbox that can help make the U. S. beef supply -- already among the safest in the world -- even safer,” Huffman said.
Huffman said new technology developed over the last decade has helped achieve major reductions in bacteria on raw meat products, but still does not permit a pathogen - free meat supply. The AMI Foundation, he said, supports a “multi-hurdle” strategy throughout the production process. By using a combination of on-farm interventions like probiotics in cattle feed, careful in-plant processing techniques designed to destroy bacteria, careful temperature control throughout distribution and thorough cooking in restaurants and home kitchens, producers, processors, retailers, restaurants and consumers together can ensure the safest possible beef supply.
The research is part of a comprehensive Food Safety Initiative funded by U. S. meat and poultry companies and administered by the AMI Foundation. The initiative's goal is reduce and ultimately eliminate E. coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes on meat and poultry products.
To view the research in its entirety, visit the AMI Foundation Web site at http://www. amif. org (http://www. amif. org).
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