Posts
5.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
Annie
San Francisco, CA
October 4th, 2009
8:46 am
The food business demands high profits, while Americans demand cheap food. Until we examine the dangerous effects of factory farming — which, let's face it, is not going to happen anytime soon — people will continue to be unhealthy. The meat industry is particularly dangerous; not only are large slaughterhouses frequently unsafe for workers, they also produce a bizarre version of processed "food."
This story is yet another reinforcement of my decision to be a vegetarian. I think we'd all benefit from eating less meat and from rethinking our addiction to cheap, unhealthy food.
This story is yet another reinforcement of my decision to be a vegetarian. I think we'd all benefit from eating less meat and from rethinking our addiction to cheap, unhealthy food.
Recommend Recommended by 475 Readers
13.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
It is the processed beef patties that are most at risk. When you purchase ground beef at the supermarket and it carries the stringy look of the meat grinder, it is much more likely to be safe. As this article stated, the processed patties are molded from machine-mixed mush of organ meats, bone scrapings, and trimmed out scraps mixed with the lowest grade cow meat- not steer beef. Cow meat is mostly retired dairy cows, old and weak, and more likely to be sick, even "downers"; cows that are too sick to walk. Steer meat comes from young, fat and healthy animals. High grade steer meat is saved for primal cuts like roasts and steaks that have to look good. Patties are not intended as a convenience for you- they are a way to disguise scraps. Just take a close look at the cheap patties you buy. Many of these patties look pink like bologna, not red like beef. There is a reason for that. Buy real ground beef and press your own patties. The industry should not be selling these types of scraps raw. They should be processed into cooked products like pot pies, cooked TV dinners like chicken fried steak patties, salisbury steaks and meatloaf, canned chili, canned ravioli filling, potted beef, soups, and pet food.
Recommend Recommended by 180 Readers
19.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
Dov Todd
Rochester, NY
October 4th, 2009
8:46 am
I have read that there is a kind of process where food briefly exposed for a few seconds to a certain kind of radiation instantly kills all the bacteria in the food, yet there is no radioactivity thereafter or anything else that harms humans as a result of this particular process. I wonder if exposing this meat to this radiation process would have prevented this girl and others like her from being hurt as described in this article? This possibility is not raised in this otherwise excellent article. If so, maybe it is time to make even more use of this radiation approach to killing bacteria in our meats. But anyway, as a result of just reading this article, I have decided I will never eat hamburger again.
Recommend Recommended by 107 Readers
21.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
Thomas
Wisconsin
October 4th, 2009
8:46 am
Only a few cases of death or disability result from the millions of pounds of hamburger eaten annually. We should learn to tolerate a reasonable risk in all we do, else we'll eventually become paralyzed by over regulation and fear.
I trust we'll not be like the man featured in the old cartoon, who fearing the many risks of being outdoors (air pollution, accidents, robbery, etc), decided to stay inside and perished from indoor radon exposure. I'm inclined to believe that Life Happens.
I trust we'll not be like the man featured in the old cartoon, who fearing the many risks of being outdoors (air pollution, accidents, robbery, etc), decided to stay inside and perished from indoor radon exposure. I'm inclined to believe that Life Happens.
Recommend Recommended by 41 Readers
23.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
Ken Cheng
Maine
October 4th, 2009
8:46 am
A terrible tragedy propagated by uncaring companies, who only look at the bottom line, and forget that lives are at stake.
I think people should take a greater interest in grinding whole cuts of meat for hamburger. I know it's an inconvenience, but so is being in a coma for weeks. 4 or 5 years ago, I watched Alton Brown on Good Eats show how simple it is to grind a whole cut of meat into hamburger. Just pre-slice into 1 inch cubes and then put into a food processor, and pulse a few times. Don't overgrind. Best hamburgers ever, and the risk of contamination is much lower on a whole cut of meat than on ground meat.
I think people should take a greater interest in grinding whole cuts of meat for hamburger. I know it's an inconvenience, but so is being in a coma for weeks. 4 or 5 years ago, I watched Alton Brown on Good Eats show how simple it is to grind a whole cut of meat into hamburger. Just pre-slice into 1 inch cubes and then put into a food processor, and pulse a few times. Don't overgrind. Best hamburgers ever, and the risk of contamination is much lower on a whole cut of meat than on ground meat.
Recommend Recommended by 166 Readers
37.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
J Shaw
Seattle, WA
October 4th, 2009
9:07 am
Exhibit A in the risks of unfettered markets. Mistakes will always happen, but the meat processing industry clearly needs tighter regulation. Rigorous testing for contamination should never have been an optional procedure.
Recommend Recommended by 155 Readers
60.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
Paul
New Milford, CT
October 4th, 2009
9:52 am
While testing and monitoring of meat packing are important, highly pathogenic forms of E. coli are a direct result of feeding cows high grain, low forage diets in crowded, filthy, inhumane feedlot conditions. Cows are highly evolved grass eating machines, and while they reach slaughter wieght more quickly crammed in to feedlots and fed high grain diets (making cheap beef possible), most of the problems cited in this article follow directly from this practice. Intensive grain feeding causes changes in the cows rumen which allows pathogenic E. coli to thrive, and live on to infect humans. We are paying a huge price in human illness and deaths, pollution from feed lot 'waste', and meat with low amounts of essential omega 3 fatty acids. We need to get our cows back on grass, which would not only make us healthier, but would reduce so many of the water pollution and soil degradation problems caused the intensive production of corn and soy on our farmland. Critics cry that meat would then be too expensive, but as a nation we eat too much of it already. Eating lower amounts of high quality meat, and adding more beans, lentils, nuts, etc. to our diet would make us so much healthier. Meat is only 'cheap' when all these costs are externalized from the price on the package. Books like "The Omnivores Dilemma" and "Fast Food Nation" do a wonderful job of describing this situation. We need to start voting with our dollars. Support local farmers by purchasing pasture raised meat, milk, and eggs, as this situation will not change until large agribusiness corporations start seeing a dent in their profits, which appears to be the only thing they are concerned about.
Recommend Recommended by 350 Readers
61.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
Scottsdale Jack
Scottsdale, AZ
October 4th, 2009
9:52 am
Eating ground beef is a gamble? OK, so is getting out of bed in the morning. Let's face it people, life is full of risks. Some people eat a burger and become paralyzed. Some people drop dead without warning for no apparent reason. But to claim that meat is somehow unsafe because of a what, 1 in 10,000,000 occurrence? Phooey.
My mom-in-law was a vegetarian for most of her life who was horrified at the thought of eating meat. She exercised, didn't drink or smoke, and was convinced that she would live to 100. At a little over 60 she came down with Alzheimers and was dead within 5 years. The moral is enjoy life while it lasts, and don't sweat the small stuff (like eating a burger).
My mom-in-law was a vegetarian for most of her life who was horrified at the thought of eating meat. She exercised, didn't drink or smoke, and was convinced that she would live to 100. At a little over 60 she came down with Alzheimers and was dead within 5 years. The moral is enjoy life while it lasts, and don't sweat the small stuff (like eating a burger).
Recommend Recommended by 46 Readers
122.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
Alice Clark
Winnetka, Illinois
October 4th, 2009
11:40 am
An international perspective is missing from the article.
How do other wealthy industrialized countries produce and inspect ground beef? American corporate lobbyists can prowl the halls of Congress and twist the arms of federal regulators, but they can't buy off or intimidate politicians and regulators from the EU, Japan and other countries. Comparisons of US food safety practices to practices in other countries might give some valuable perspective here. The science behind the food safety should be the same.
How do other wealthy industrialized countries produce and inspect ground beef? American corporate lobbyists can prowl the halls of Congress and twist the arms of federal regulators, but they can't buy off or intimidate politicians and regulators from the EU, Japan and other countries. Comparisons of US food safety practices to practices in other countries might give some valuable perspective here. The science behind the food safety should be the same.
Recommend Recommended by 155 Readers
142.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
Rose
Shenzhen
October 4th, 2009
11:46 am
Something that really gets me about all this controversy, is: why do we even have the USDA? Why does taxpayer money go to fund this branch of the government? From what I understand of this story, Cargill did a better investigation of this E. Coli poisoning than they did (if only to try and shirk a well-deserved lawsuit). The USDA posts a vast number of inspectors who have an astonishing failure rate in catching contamination. It has no authority to force something as fundamental and simple as requiring beef producers to test for E. Coli or submit to something as outrageous as outside governmental testing, nor does it have the authority to force, er, "beef reconstitution" companies like Cargill to test or submit to outside testing or face any punishment for producing foul meat. Do we really need a multi-million dollar governmental organization to make polite suggestions?
How is it that we live in an era where a simple law that would require milk to come from one dairy farm (as opposed to hundreds), and beef in a hamburger to come from one slaughterhouse (let alone something so completely out there like coming from the same cow!) would require an almost top-down dismantling of the United States government as we know it? The factory farms have a stranglehold on us and probably will for the rest of my life. I suppose I should thank god that I still have the "freedom" in America to drive to a farmer's market and pay an arm and a leg for the unspeakable luxury of a whole chicken raised like a normal chicken, for eggs not produced in conditions that would make you claw your eyes out in horror, and beef and pork that isn't covered in terrible sores despite being pumped to the brim with antibiotics. As it is, buying milk from an actual dairy farmer is illegal in most states (and fiercely enforced, to the point of "g-men" busting in barn doors), so I wouldn't be surprised if eating an animal raised on an actual farm is next on the list. Sad days indeed.
How is it that we live in an era where a simple law that would require milk to come from one dairy farm (as opposed to hundreds), and beef in a hamburger to come from one slaughterhouse (let alone something so completely out there like coming from the same cow!) would require an almost top-down dismantling of the United States government as we know it? The factory farms have a stranglehold on us and probably will for the rest of my life. I suppose I should thank god that I still have the "freedom" in America to drive to a farmer's market and pay an arm and a leg for the unspeakable luxury of a whole chicken raised like a normal chicken, for eggs not produced in conditions that would make you claw your eyes out in horror, and beef and pork that isn't covered in terrible sores despite being pumped to the brim with antibiotics. As it is, buying milk from an actual dairy farmer is illegal in most states (and fiercely enforced, to the point of "g-men" busting in barn doors), so I wouldn't be surprised if eating an animal raised on an actual farm is next on the list. Sad days indeed.
Recommend Recommended by 249 Readers
502.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
Susan
Burlingame
October 4th, 2009
2:21 pm
Why can't Americans learn from the French? Quality food (albeit more expensive) is better than quantity food and judging from the general lack of obesity in France, better for everyone's health in the short and long terms. All of us could benefit from eating less meat and be healthier for it.
Recommend Recommended by 108 Readers
505.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
TomTom
Tucson
October 4th, 2009
2:21 pm
Realize that if you sue (or someone sues) a company like Cargill or Tyson, it is going to be an uphill battle against superior adversaries, on a legal terrain you don't know much about. You and your lawyer will be fighting a well financed insurance company of course, not the meat people themselves. If you do get a handsome settlement at the end, the meat processor's insurance premiums will go up a little bit. Lotsa luck.
But it is interesting that we see plenty of television ads for lawyers, recruiting cases of people who have mesothelioma, or problems from a pain patch, etc. Am wondering why we do not see liability lawyers scooping up cases (for a class action suite) for severe food poisoning. Probably harder to prove. Or they would.
But it is interesting that we see plenty of television ads for lawyers, recruiting cases of people who have mesothelioma, or problems from a pain patch, etc. Am wondering why we do not see liability lawyers scooping up cases (for a class action suite) for severe food poisoning. Probably harder to prove. Or they would.
Recommend Recommended by 21 Readers
529.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
Jesseb Adam
Fort Collins, CO
October 4th, 2009
3:33 pm
This is a tragic and unfortunate story. It also, however, misses an important fact: the hundreds of thousands of pounds of ground beef that are not contaminated and that are consumed safely every day.
Infections are highly isolated. Buying contaminated beef is a lot like being involved in a plane crash. It is unfortunate. It is sad. But it is not commonplace. Of the millions of flights a year, only a few have problems and an extreme outlying number crash. Keep the statistics in mind when you are considering buying ground beef and enjoy.
Infections are highly isolated. Buying contaminated beef is a lot like being involved in a plane crash. It is unfortunate. It is sad. But it is not commonplace. Of the millions of flights a year, only a few have problems and an extreme outlying number crash. Keep the statistics in mind when you are considering buying ground beef and enjoy.
Recommend Recommended by 20 Readers
539.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
Statements above suggesting we should just enjoy life, stop being paranoid, or rationalizing that it's fate - like a plane crash - fail to acknowledge the bigger picture of where our food comes from.
It's unrealistic to hope the world will become vegetarian, or that it's even the healthiest diet across the board. Thoughtful, carefully researched books such as Micheal Pollen's should be required reading for every high school student; our future policy makers. Any moderately intelligent, open-minded human being has to acknowledge the sickness built-in to "agricultural" meat industry practices.
Taking a long hard look at where our food comes from, the impact it makes on the planet, and how much it truly "costs" us could potentially start a real revolution.
Grass-feeding of cows making E coli less likely to proliferate, humane raising and slaughtering of animals, supporting small organic farms, and reverence for the cycle of all animal life, including ours, would change so much.
It's unrealistic to hope the world will become vegetarian, or that it's even the healthiest diet across the board. Thoughtful, carefully researched books such as Micheal Pollen's should be required reading for every high school student; our future policy makers. Any moderately intelligent, open-minded human being has to acknowledge the sickness built-in to "agricultural" meat industry practices.
Taking a long hard look at where our food comes from, the impact it makes on the planet, and how much it truly "costs" us could potentially start a real revolution.
Grass-feeding of cows making E coli less likely to proliferate, humane raising and slaughtering of animals, supporting small organic farms, and reverence for the cycle of all animal life, including ours, would change so much.
Recommend Recommended by 182 Readers
575.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
Greater Omaha Packing Co., Inc
Omaha, NE
October 6th, 2009
11:11 am
From: Greater Omaha Packing Co., Inc.,
Technical Resources Department
All products from Greater Omaha Packing Co., Inc that were shipped to Cargill were tested for E coli 0157:H7 by an independent lab, IEH Laboratories. All product tested negative.
Copies of the Certificate of Analysis test results of Greater Omaha’s product used by Cargill are available at our website;http://www.greateromaha.com. All product tests were performed by IEH Laboratories; the same lab that the NYT used for their E coli tests as referenced in the article.
According to the New York Times article not all of the beef suppliers tested their product. Greater Omaha has never been involved in a food safety recall. The omission of this information by the NYT and others supplying information for the article is biased and unfair.
Technical Resources Department
All products from Greater Omaha Packing Co., Inc that were shipped to Cargill were tested for E coli 0157:H7 by an independent lab, IEH Laboratories. All product tested negative.
Copies of the Certificate of Analysis test results of Greater Omaha’s product used by Cargill are available at our website;http://www.greateromaha.com. All product tests were performed by IEH Laboratories; the same lab that the NYT used for their E coli tests as referenced in the article.
According to the New York Times article not all of the beef suppliers tested their product. Greater Omaha has never been involved in a food safety recall. The omission of this information by the NYT and others supplying information for the article is biased and unfair.
Recommend Recommended by 9 Readers
588.
HIGHLIGHT (What's this?)
As a biotech scientist who's done a considerable amount of research on identifying bacterial pathogens, I can tell you that the whole problem here is the attitude of the meat companies--unfettered capitalism at its worst. The technology for tracking pathogen contamination has been around for a long time, and so this is NOT a "science" issue. It's a "greed" issue. For example, I had been working several years ago on a simple, rapid system for detecting contamination in meat products for a major American meat producer. This technology would have enabled them to identify the contaminants and potentially track them to the source. The science contact at the company was very excited to learn what our company could do for him, because we might have been able to fix a problem that had been interfering with their processing for years. Unfortunately, when the company attorneys found out about the proposed project, they shut it down immediately. The reason was that if the company obtained detailed information about the contamination in the processing plant, it might encourage additional government regulation or civil lawsuits. Consequently, their attitude became "No data, no problem." The meat producers would prefer to have poop in the patties and just deal with relatively small individual lawsuits, than be required to track the hygiene status of their plants. Since they have a fairly good lobby in Washington, no one in the government will ever force them to change this attitude. They prefer to remain firmly rooted in their 19th century technology. It's a very depressing and frustrating situation.
No comments:
Post a Comment