A new method of detecting E. coli in ground beef was devised by a food scientist at Purdue University.

Lisa Mauer, an associate professor of food science at the university said in a statement that this new method uses infrared spectroscopy and can detect E. coli in ground beef in just an hour, compared to currently used detection systems that take about 48 hours in detecting the bacteria.

“Even with all the other bacteria present in ground beef, we could still detect E. coli and recognize different strains,” said Mauer.

The spectroscopy method can also differentiate the strains of E. coli 0157:H7, meaning outbreaks could be tracked more effectively and quickly.

These findings were reported in Journal of Food Science’s August issue.

The infrared spectroscopy equipment is "off-the-shelf and has been around for decades," Mauer said in an e-mail. "You can find it in most forensic laboratories and many state departments of health."

Mauer said the ground beef tests show promise for using the technology to find other pathogens in additional types of foods. She had already shown that spectroscopy can detect melamine – which sickened about 300,000 infants in China and killed at least six in 2008 – down to one part per million in powdered baby formula.

Bacterium E. coli, short for Escherichia coli, is usually found in the intestines of animals and humans. Out of its hundreds of strains, E. coli 0157:H7 is considered as the most dangerous to human. Contamination of ground beef with this bacterium is said to happen during the butchering process.

People who suffer severe E. coli 0157:H7 poisoning face a higher risk of high blood pressure or kidney damage. In some people, this leads to the life-threatening condition of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which is treated in intensive care units in hospitals. (With reports from Reuters. Other source: CBC News)