New E.Coli Outbreak - Ground beef

[FarmerChick]

Eww dead cow milk


I wouldn't be surprised if many "unsavory" situations happen at any slaughterhouses..LOL---UGH--don't want to think about it..HA HA

 

[me&thegals]

I think it was after reading "Fast Food Nation" that I for once and for all gave up buying any red meat in a store, along with eggs. Then, Michael Pollan's books helped keep me in this decision. The working conditions in meat processing plants are appalling, both for the workers and from a health perspective. A lot of crap goes on there, literally. If you stop and think about it, E. coli comes from crap. So, how is it ending up in our food? Yeah. Pretty gross. Then you read about CAFOs and how grain-fed cattle are so susceptible to diseases like E. coli. Low-grade antibiotics create these antibiotic-resistant diseases, and the cattle go to slaughter with E. coli in their systems, just waiting to contaminate our meat.

Blech!

 

[Farmfresh]

Find a small local butcher shop - they often sell grass fed meat and their own beef there. Much less chance of contamination with small batches.

 

[Dace]

Food Inc also exposes some of what goes on in a slaughterhouse. It is enough to really make you think before buying.

We have stopped buying ground beef....there is just so much nasty that goes into it! I noticed that Costco has a 3 pound pack of grass feed beef, for 12.99. I guess if we really get a hankering for burgers that is what we will get. Not really sure if it is pasture RAISED or just pasture FINISHED.

I really need to find somewhere to buy clean beef.....need some nice soul like our Justy to raise one for me!!

 

[patandchickens]

Food Inc also exposes some of what goes on in a slaughterhouse. It is enough to really make you think before buying. <snip> I noticed that Costco has a 3 pound pack of grass feed beef, for 12.99. I guess if we really get a hankering for burgers that is what we will get.

Is there a particular reason to believe that beef is not processed in the same processing plants as grain-fed beef is?

(Yes, I understand about grain-fed encouraging pathogenic e coli strains, but unless the processing streams are *completely* separate, it is not clear to me why one would expect a big difference, in terms of likelihood of bacterial contamination?)

I think most folks on this thread would be *appalled* by what our ancestors did to produce/store their food, and survived. Consider for instance the concept of hanging game Of course I think most of our ancestors would be somewhat repelled by some modern feedlot and slaughterhouse processes too, so it's a two-way street <g>, but in general I think the human body is a lot more resiliant than we tend to give it credit for.

Pat

 

[me&thegals]

Well, yes, a book on French cookery can make a person gag as they desribe their meat processing.

But, I think the point here is the amount of feces that ends up in our meat. And the fact that the feeding methods lead to that feces being contaminated by immunocompromised-caused diseases in cattle that are also antibiotic resistant.

Yes, though, any meat processing is not a walk through a bed of roses.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Ha! I don't know about French cooking, but Filipino tribal folk eat some nasty stuff and are heartier & longer lived than their city living counterparts. But still, they don't eat poop. That's why they have a wiping hand & an eating hand. These "uncivilized" folk know that animal or people feces will make you sick.
E. coli is in our water! Ever seen the Mythbusters where they do testing on toothbrushes? Even the quarantined toothbrush had E. coli on it.
I think anything processed in a major plant is suspect. I won't eat beef rare any longer, even though I love a nice rare steak.
If DH & I can get enough venison in my freezer this year, I won't worry about buying that half or whole cow, I'll just stick with my nice, grass & acorn fed deer.

 

[patandchickens]

Remember that the great majority of E coli strains are harmless.

And yes, fecal bacteria *are* everywhere, that is not just a feature of modern feedlots it is just the way life IS

I am by no means at all in any way suggesting that CAFO's are harmless or a good idea. In *lots of* ways.

I do however think that too much emphasis often gets put on this one particular thing -- E coli outbreaks traceable to meat -- when in reality it is not a big risk in life; and in terms of "if you only knew what happens in processing plants", well, if you only knew what happens ELSEWHERE in life, or that your forefathers did, you would be equally grossed out, and yet people mostly *do* survive just fine. So I think that a large fraction of the issue is more psychological than actual.

Pat

 

[big brown horse]

well, if you only knew what happens ELSEWHERE in life, or that your forefathers did, you would be equally grossed out, and yet people mostly *do* survive just fine.

Why do you assume that the *rest of us* have NO CLUE as to what happens ELSEWHERE in life or what OUR forefathers did?

 

[patandchickens]

well, if you only knew what happens ELSEWHERE in life, or that your forefathers did, you would be equally grossed out, and yet people mostly *do* survive just fine.

Why do you assume that the *rest of us* have NO CLUE as to what happens ELSEWHERE in life or what OUR forefathers did?

Scuse me??? The *whole* thing I wrote was

in terms of "if you only knew what happens in processing plants", well, if you only knew what happens ELSEWHERE in life, or that your forefathers did, you would be equally grossed out

I was just using parallel phrasing to the first part of what I wrote! Point being that as much as ewwwy things happen in meat packing plants (which is one of the things being repeatedly mentioned here), remember that ewwwy things happen all over the place in life, and we mostly survive.

Not everything is actually a personal insult.

Pat