Last year scientists noted an uptick in the prevalence of potentially deadly E. coli O157:H7 bacteria in beef products. Frequently found in the digestive tracts of cattle, the bug can wind up in ground beef during the slaughter and grinding process.

There were 21 beef recalls in the United States in 2007, compared with eight the year before. About a third of the recalls were prompted by reports of human illness, while none of the 2006 recalls were.

This year, meat inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have continued to see more contaminated beef samples. Through mid-October, they had recorded 50 percent more than at the same time last year.

Officials have assumed that these numbers reflect an overall increase in the prevalence of the E. coli strain in cattle, but no one has been able to explain why the dangerous bacteria have become more abundant.

Now scientists are looking into a possible explanation — one that’s related to alternative fuels and the economics of farming.

It started with a study that came out in late 2007, while consumers were still digesting news of the recall of 21 million pounds of ground beef by Topps Meat of Elizabeth, N.J.

Researchers at Kansas State University who were studying the types of bacteria that live in cattle feces unexpectedly found higher levels of E. coli O157:H7 in the feces of cattle fed a diet that included an ethanol product called distillers grain.

Distillers grain is what is left after the starch from corn is removed to make ethanol…

Full Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/31/AR2008103103483.html?sub=new