Effective next week, the US Agriculture Department will be expanding its testing for E. coli in some (but not all) raw beef products.  The new tests will test for six additional strains of E. coli that produce the so-called Shiga toxin — O26, O45, O103, O111, O121 and O145.  They will also continue to test for the better known E. coli — as well as the better known O157:H7.  This new testing paradigm follows on the heels of a report that the FDA denied a petition by the Corn Refiners Association to change the name of the sweetener high-fructose corn syrup to corn sugar on nutrition labels.  A sign of governmental toughening, or just a momentary blip?  We should get a better sense when (if?) the new FSMA draft regulations are finally posted for comment.

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