Escherichia coli O157:H7 in retail ground beef in Seattle: results of a one-year prospective study.
Escherichia coli O157:H7 was sought systematically in 1,400 samples of retail ground beef in Seattle in a 1-year prospective study. Sorbitol-nonfermenting, lactose-fermenting, indole-positive colonies isolated after enrichment culture were probed for the presence of Shiga toxin genes. Totals of 67,040 sorbitol-nonfermenting and 66,705 sorbitol-fermenting colonies were characterized, but E. coli O157:H7 was not identified. The sensitivity of this technique was usually sufficient to detect E. coli O157:H7 at a concentration below 1 CFU/g of meat. These data demonstrate that retail ground beef in Seattle is neither frequently nor heavily contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.
Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center and the Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle 98105, USA. tarr@u.washington.edu
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D000818:Animals; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D002417:Cattle; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003470:Culture Media; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D008461:Meat Products / Q000382:microbiology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D022603:Shiga Toxins; D014861:Washington
D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D003470:Culture Media; D022603:Shiga Toxins