USDA Withheld Info on E. Coli Outbreak

More news of government cover-ups on E. Coli, from AgriNews:

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal officials refused to tell Minnesota authorities which of two beef plants were linked to a fatal E. coli outbreak last summer, according to a state report.

One woman died and at least 17 people were sickened from the E. coli outbreak in the Longville area, after eating ground beef.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health report, state officials narrowed the source of the E. coli to two processing plants -- which they identified only as "Plant A" and "Plant B."

The report said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had reported that beef trimmings from a processing plant yielded the same genetic material as that in the E. coli outbreak. But the USDA wouldn't identify that plant, saying it wasn't public information. That made it impossible for state authorities to specify the source of the outbreak.

"We had all this correlation, we wanted to find out which plant it came from," said Kevin Elfering, director of the dairy and food division of the Minnesota Agriculture Department, in a telephone interview this week. "At that point, they were not able to give us that information, because they had some concerns on their data practices."

Elfering said that his department had three or four conference calls with USDA officials seeking the information, but to no avail. Officials there argued the information was not public."

---------------------------------

We can only hope California officials will be more open when investigations are complete...