II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2792 

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to develop an effective sampling 

and testing program to test for E. coli O157:H7 in boneless beef manufacturing trimmings and other raw ground beef components, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2009 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to develop an 

effective sampling and testing program to test for E. 

coli O157:H7 in boneless beef manufacturing trimmings 

and other raw ground beef components, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘E. Coli Eradication 

5 Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. E. COLI ERADICATION IN GROUND BEEF. 

2 Title I of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 

3 601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 26. E. COLI ERADICATION IN GROUND BEEF. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 

7 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

8 require that slaughterhouses, processing establishments, 

9 and grinding facilities described in subsection (b) test for 

10 the presence of E. coli O157:H7 (referred to in this sec11 tion as ‘E. coli’) at the following points: 

12 ‘‘(1) One test at the slaughterhouse or proc13 essing establishment at which source trim was pro14 duced and 1 test of the source trim or bench trim 

15 at the receiving facility prior to combining with 

16 other lots from different sources. 

17 ‘‘(2) If the source trim and grinding occurs at 

18 the same facility, 1 test of the source trim and 1 

19 test of the final ground product. 

20 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—This section applies— 

21 ‘‘(1) effective beginning on the date that is 180 

22 days after the date of enactment of this section, to— 

23 ‘‘(A) all slaughterhouses or processing es24 tablishments that produce more than 25,000 

25 pounds of trim per day; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) grinding facilities that grind more 

2 than 25,000 pounds of trim or bench trim per 

3 day; and 

4 ‘‘(2) effective beginning on the date that is 3 

5 years after the date of enactment of this section, to 

6 all slaughterhouses, processing establishments, and 

7 grinding facilities that produce or grind trim or 

8 bench trim. 

9 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—To carry out this section, 

10 the Secretary shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) approve definitions of lot sizes established 

12 by establishments, except that an establishment— 

13 ‘‘(A) shall demonstrate to the Secretary 

14 scientific justification for the definition of the 

15 lot; and 

16 ‘‘(B) shall not define a lot as more than 

17 2,000 pounds; 

18 ‘‘(2) establish testing standards; 

19 ‘‘(3) assist processors in establishing appro20 priate sampling plans for establishments; and 

21 ‘‘(4) in the case of a positive sample that indi22 cates the presence of E. coli in a lot of an establish23 ment— 

24 ‘‘(A) verify that meat or meat food prod25 ucts contaminated with the E. coli, and the enVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:02 Nov 19, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2792.IS S2792

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1 tire lot that is represented by the sample, are 

2 disposed of or treated to eradicate the E. coli 

3 (in accordance with guidelines of the Secretary) 

4 before entry into commerce; and 

5 ‘‘(B) promulgate regulations that require 

6 that the slaughterhouse or processing establish7 ment takes corrective action and take measures 

8 to prevent reoccurrence. 

9 ‘‘(d) TESTING.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A slaughterhouse or proc11 essing establishment producing or a grinding facility 

12 receiving trimmings shall test each lot using sam13 pling standards and procedures determined by the 

14 Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(2) TESTING FACILITIES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An establishment 

17 shall use an independent testing facility that 

18 uses methods that are at least equivalent in 

19 specificity and sensitivity to the methods used 

20 by the Secretary to test beef trimmings. 

21 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATION.—In using an inde22 pendent testing facility under subparagraph 

23 (A), the establishment— 

24 ‘‘(i) shall contract with the facility on 

25 an annual basis; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) shall not terminate the contract 

2 on the basis of positive test results re3 ported by the facility. 

4 ‘‘(3) PROFICIENCY TESTING SERVICE.—A lab5 oratory that tests beef for E. coli shall contract with 

6 a testing service to verify the proficiency of the lab7 oratory. 

8 ‘‘(4) TRANSMISSION OF TESTING RESULTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Test results of any 

10 testing conducted under this subsection shall be 

11 sent to the applicable slaughterhouse, proc12 essing establishment, or grinding facility as 

13 soon as results are ready. 

14 ‘‘(B) TRANSMISSION TO SECRETARY.—The 

15 slaughterhouse, processing establishment, or 

16 grinding facility shall report any positive or pre17 sumptive positive results directly to the Sec18 retary through electronic means not later than 

19 24 hours after receipt of results from a testing 

20 facility. 

21 ‘‘(5) HABITUAL VIOLATORS.—A slaughterhouse 

22 or processing establishment that produces or distrib23 utes trim that receives positive results that exceed 

24 the maximum allowable percentage of positive re25 sults for 3 consecutive days or more than 10 inVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:02 Nov 19, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2792.IS S2792

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1 stances per year shall be listed on the public website 

2 of the Secretary as a habitual violator. 

3 ‘‘(6) COMPLIANCE.—The Secretary shall take 

4 necessary regulatory action with respect to an estab5 lishment that fails to test, notify the Secretary of 

6 positive results, or otherwise comply with this sub7 section. 

8 ‘‘(e) IMPORTED GROUND BEEF.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any trim, bench trim, and 

10 ground beef originating from outside the United 

11 States shall be subject to the same requirements as 

12 apply to domestic trim, bench trim, and ground beef 

13 under this section. 

14 ‘‘(2) VERIFICATION.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for im16 portation into the United States, a foreign facil17 ity shall provide a certification of compliance 

18 with paragraph (1) to a domestic slaughter19 house, processing establishment, or grinding fa20 cility. 

21 ‘‘(B) SECONDARY TESTING.—The domestic 

22 slaughterhouse, processing establishment, or 

23 grinding facility shall verify the results of the 

24 certification by conducting secondary testing of 


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1 the trim, bench trim, or ground beef before 

2 processing into a final ground beef product.’’. 

Æ 


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