Food safety experts launch battle against E. coli bacteria

Representatives from UN bodies and member countries that make up the Codex Alimentarius committee on food hygiene are considering the need for risk-based standards to control EHEC. The five-day meeting began yesterday.

"We are seeing a worldwide increase in the number of people infected with these dangerous pathogens, particularly E. coli O157"​ stated Dr. Peter Ben Embarek from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Sarah Cahill, a representative from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said legal costs arising from just one outbreak in the US amounted to a payout by one manufacturer of $30m (€23m).

"In addition to the human health costs, the economic costs arising from product recalls, interruption to trade and legal actions are enormous,"​ Cahill stated.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission sets standards aimed at helping international food trade by eliminating many of what the UN calls "unjustified technical barriers" set up by some countries. The body is a joint venture of the FAO and the WHO.

Once brought into effect, the standards are voluntary. However many countries incorporate them into national legislation. They also apply to safety controls used to regulate international food trade.

EHEC was first identified as a human pathogen in 1982 when strains of a previously uncommon serotype, O157:H7, were implicated in two outbreaks of haemorrhagic colitis in the US.

Since then, outbreaks of EHEC O157:H7 infection have occurred and continue to occur throughout many regions of the world, as have outbreaks of infections from non-O157 serotypes of E. coli, including O26:H11, O111:H8, O103:H2, O113:H21, and O104:H21.

EHEC can cause a range of symptoms, some of which can lead to death. Illness typically begins with abdominal cramps and non-bloody diarrhoea that can progress to bloody diarrhoea within two to three days. Infection with EHEC may lead to further complications, most notably haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), the most common cause of kidney failure in young children.

Cattle are considered the main source of EHEC. Data based on outbreaks and sporadic infections indicate consumption of beef, including ground beef and processed beef products, is the leading source of foodborne EHEC infection, the FAO stated in a press release.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is hosting the meeting in Dublin following a recent increase in the country of cases of EHEC infection.

Between 2004 and 2005 the number of EHEC cases increased to 135 from from 67 in Ireland. To date in 2006, 98 EHEC cases have been reported in Ireland compared to 53 in the same period last year.

The number of EHEC outbreaks involving food or water has also increased, with seven outbreaks recorded in 2005 compared to two in 2004, the FSAI stated.

Ireland's largest ever E. coli O157 outbreak occurred in 2005, involving 18 people, including nine children.

John O'Brien, FSAI's chief executive, said the meeting will highlight the threat posed by the spread of EHEC.

"An effective risk management strategy is required to halt the spread of these harmful bacteria in the food chain and the aim of the meeting is to put such measures in place,"​ O'Brien stated.

Codex Alimentarius standards form the basis of food legislation in many countries and are recognised as international benchmarks by one of the multilateral agreements of the UN World Trade Organization (WTO).