http://www.care2.com/greenliving/ground-beef-gone-bad.html
Ground Beef Gone Bad
Mark Twain said that truth is stranger than fiction; after reading a bone-chilling story in the The New York Times this weekend I’m inclined to add that truth can also be far creepier than fiction. Creepier even than a gory horror film or twisted Steven King novel!
The title of the story sounds pretty mundane: E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection. What’s new, right? It’s no secret that food inspection in the United States has proven less than perfect. But the reporter for this story dug deep to follow the events leading up to an E. coli outbreak in 2007 that left 940 people sick, and in particular, a young dancer who was left paralyzed.
I had always assumed that there was rigid testing at every step of the process for meat processing, and that the various outbreaks were rogue occurrences that had slipped through a large and under-managed system. Silly me. The truth is that there is no federal requirement for meat grinding facilities (grinders) to test their ingredients for the E. coli pathogen. According to the story, Cargill (from where the tainted meat in question came from) is “like most meat companies,” it relies on its suppliers to check for the bacteria and does its own testing only after the ingredients are ground together. The United States Department of Agriculture allows grinders to devise their own safety plans.
I find this hard to swallow: Meat companies get meat from a number of sources, grind it all together, then test it, which makes it extremely difficult to trace the source of tainted meat. Why? Because of handshake agreements between companies–tacit pacts that stand in the way of ingredient testing. Many big slaughterhouses use their muscle and only sell to grinders who agree NOT to test their shipments for E. coli. Slaughterhouses fear that one grinder’s discovery of E. coli will set off a recall of ingredients already sold to others. (And heaven forbid that contaminated meat should be recalled!) The story pointed out that Costco is one of the few big producers that tests trimmings for E. coli before grinding–and because of their policy, even with their huge buying power, they meet resistance from some big slaughterhouses (like Tyson).
So most people might think, well, OK, but if I practice great kitchen hygiene and cook the meat thoroughly it will be safe. Nope. A test by The Times found that the safe handling instructions are not enough to prevent the bacteria from spreading in the kitchen. The Times prepared three pounds of ground beef dosed with a strain of E. coli. Although the safety instructions on the package were followed, E. coli remained on the cutting board even after it was washed with soap and a towel picked up large amounts of bacteria from the meat.
That’s very scary to me (and I don’t even eat meat!), but it doesn’t stop there. There are descriptions of the slaughterhouse and meat processing facilities that will make your skin crawl–and then there’s the analysis of what ground beef is really comprised of. You’d think that ground beef is a chunk of meat sent through a grinder–not necessarily true. Commonly, ground beef is made from slaughterhouse trimmings and a “mash-like product” derived from scraps that are ground together, “an amalgam of various grades of meat from different parts of cows and even from different slaughterhouses.” These cuts of meat are particularly vulnerable to E. coli contamination, say food experts and officials.
Ground beef has been blamed for 16 outbreaks in the last three years alone–this summer, contamination led to the recall of beef from nearly 3,000 grocers in 41 states. As The Times succinctly notes, “Neither the system meant to make the meat safe, nor the meat itself, is what consumers have been led to believe.”
So on that note…some recipes!
Black Bean and Mushroom Burgers
Lentil Almond Burgers
Beet and Carrot Burgers
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Deepak
Eric
Dave
Dr. Brent
Isha
Susan
Delia
Michelle
Wendy
Megan
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25 comments
add your comment »Good to know that only Costco checks the meat from each supplier. I am not saying anything one way or the other about choosing to not eat meat, but it seems odd to me that it is OK for carnivore/omnivore animal to follow their nature but not humans.
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Questionable Beef-must see!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn4VYghL2Eg
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A major cause of E.coli is that the cattle are on a grain (corn) based diet. Feedlot grain makes the animals more acidic, which in turn makes the E. coli more acid-resistant so that the acids in our stomachs can’t combat the E.coli bacteria. If you want to have safer meat, you need to eat grassfed meat. I write a blog about this (www.kolfoods.blogspot.com) and started a kosher, grass-fed meat business (www.kolfoods.com).
Here is a study by Cornell University about this very issue:
Russell, J. B., F. Diez-Gonzalez, and G. N. Jarvis. “Potential Effect of Cattle Diets on the Transmission of Pathogenic Escherichia Coli to Humans” Microbes Infect 2, no. 1 (2000): 45-53.
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Thank you for your article! I'm proud to be vegetarian -- now 12 years!
working4change.blogspot.com
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This discussion got a little off topic, didn't it?
Grammar skills and eating the perfect diet are not what we should be focused on. No one is perfect. Everyone on this thread is trying to eat healthier and more humanely.
We should focus on the positive aspects of each of our choices.
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Gina, I totally agree with you!!!! While I don't think people deserve their ailments, I do think we need better education. One that isn't tainted by the meat and dairy industries and actually gives us the truth about how animal proteins cause cancers, obesity, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, macular degeneration and still more.
I don't feel that Gina was preaching, but was expressing her belief that animals should have their rights respected. Just as we expect to be left to live our lives fully, so should they.
If the public were more educated about the actual human, land, and environmental cost of raising animals for feed, we would not even be having this conversation, everyone would be at least a flexitarian with their primary food being plants.
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"Raving radicals end up alienating people like me who are potential allies on so many aspects of animal welfare. Frankly, fundamentalism of any kind is offensive and I will not listen to someone who refuses to speak politely to those s/he disagrees with."
I had to copy/paste that quote from Pamela. Thank you for voicing my own sentiments so wonderfully. I know that many people out there in the real world are also turned off by rants like Gina's. Just reading her made me angry. Terrorism and intolerance can happen over so many aspects of life - not just religion.
I guess I too will turn towards the small local butchers. [for the nights that beans and tofu just won't do] Perhaps one day I'll go vegetarian -- whole hog!
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If someone is going to preach to me, Gina, about how I or anyone else should live our lives, I would really appreciate it if s/he would take the time to use proper spelling and grammar. I was so distracted by your garbled ranting that I had difficulty following your point. I consider myself a reluctant carnivore and try to keep my animal product consumption to a minimum. I oppose animal testing and am appalled by the living conditions of "factory" animals. That being said, my body requires a minimal amount of animal protein to function well. I live a mostly vegetarian lifestyle, but eat meat occasionally. Raving radicals end up alienating people like me who are potential allies on so many aspects of animal welfare. Frankly, fundamentalism of any kind is offensive and I will not listen to someone who refuses to speak politely to those s/he disagrees with.
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I'm so glad I ditched meat.
Man! those recipes look amazing!! I'm gonna try all three. I already know I love Lentil burgers and black bean burgers, carrots and beets will be something new for me!
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Gina M, what makes *you* think I didn't give vegetarianism a long enough or serious enough try? Or that I haven't given the ethical implications any thought? I've made my peace with my decision. Maybe in my next life I'll get to be a nice, juicy cow...
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