Non-O157 STECs are now considered a top priority foodborne pathogen since they have been involved in various outbreaks linked to different food matrices around the globe (Escherichia coli O26 in ground beef and in cheese, E. coli O145 in lettuce, E. coli O103 in mutton sausages, etc.). With improved illness diagnostic procedures, they have also appeared in the CDC foodborne illness reports, and have been shown as representing a significant percentage of illnesses linked to hemolytic uremic syndrome and hemorrhagic colitis. In the U.S., the USDA-FSIS has now developed an analytical method for the screening of the six serogroups (MLG 5B) most frequently involved in clinical cases in humans (E. coli O26, O45, O103, O111, O121 and O145, also called “Big Six”). Simultaneously, commercial methods, mainly based on the real-time PCR technique have been developed and are now available to the food industry for routine testing of the Top six STECs. In September 2011, USDA-FSIS initiated the rule-making process declaring the Top six STECs as “adulterants of non-intact raw beef products and product components within the meaning of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA)”. USDA-FSIS intends to implement this new regulation by March 5th, 2012. This new regulation will represent a significant challenge for the meat industry as well as the overall food industry. The meat industry has several concerns with this regulation, among which the performances of the current analytical methods, the percentage of “true positive meat samples”, the implementation of the STEC hazard in their HACCP and verification plans, the prevalence of STEC among meat coming from various countries (Meat exporters to U.S. are also very concerned by this new regulation), and the preventive actions currently available for a better management of STEC risk. This symposium presents some of the latest data on rapid methods for STEC analysis, on STEC prevalence in bovine meat, on pre-harvest intervention technologies, on HACCP and implementation of a risk management of STECs in beef operations. The symposium will offer a tribune to the audience for discussion with the presenters.

Presentations