Study vindicates Distiller's Grain in E.-Coli growth

A by-product of the growth in the use of corn to produce ethanol for fuel is that the leftovers from the process are still available to feed livestock. This is a hotly-debated subject, as the best part of the corn for fattening cattle and hogs is lost in the distilling process. Distiller's grain still has to be supplemented in the feedlot ration to get proper finishing of cattle.

A side controversy has been the increase in E. Coli contamination in cattle, potentially sickening hundreds of consumers. Many had blamed this on Distiller's Grain, the byproduct of ethanol production fed to cattle. Kansas State University has just completed a study that vindicates Distiller's Grain as a source of E. Coli contamination of beef.

E. Coli is thought to come from cattle manure remaining on the carcass as it enters the packing plant. This has led to chemical rinsing of carcasses to kill E. Coli. The bacteria exists on the exterior of the carcass, and spread through ground beef when the exterior meat is mixed with interior meat in the grinding process.

E. Coli from the use of Distiller's Grain was merely speculation to start with. The rise in E. Coli just happened to coincide with the greater use of Distiller's Grain, with little evidence that the two events were related. The Kansas State study confirms this.

Beef safety is a major concern of industry organizations, and the focus of the industry is on solving it internally, rather than through excessive federal regulations and heavy-handed enforcement of them, to drive up operating costs. Feed additives for livestock are one option underway to kill E. Coli bacteria in livestock before they get to the packing plant.

Until such time as there is a more defined cause of E. Coli contamination, regulations alone are a hit-and-miss proposition at best. It behooves the feds and the beef industry to work together for a viable solution, rather than pass a bunch of ham-handed regulations that ultimately are unable to fix the problem.

It is easy to slap your thigh and say "By damn, there out to be a law" at every problem that breaks out, but a whole different matter to adopt enforceable laws that can actually impact the problem. More research is needed to find out what stamps out E. Coli contamination the best.

On E. Coli, we aren't there yet