Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Vaccines Tested to Combat E. coli in Beef

Beef is to Texas like lobster is to Maine – a valuable commodity that just happens to taste good, too (obviously beef is better, but you get my point.) So Texans have more reasons than most for ensuring that we maintain the proud statistic of having the safest food supply in the world.

According to a NY Times article published Dec. 3, researchers believe E. coli vaccines, like the ones mentioned as being tested in the article, can reduce the number of animals carrying the bacteria by 65 to 75 percent.

While the debate regarding who will pick up the tab for the vaccines is ongoing, the end result could be an end to E. coli related food borne illnesses. That is great news, since the bacteria causes illnesses in about 73,000 Americans each year.

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