What's lurking in your hamburger?
A story in Sunday's New York Times takes a terrifying look at beef contamination and the industry's lack of testing and oversight to prevent it. Brace yourself, this could make you rethink that burger at lunchtime.
The fascinating piece tells the tale of a 22-year-old dance instructor, who after eating a grilled burger, came down with a food-borne illness so severe that it shut down her kidneys, caused seizures and ultimately left her paralyzed.
E.coli was the culprit. Ground beef, the article explains, is vulnerable to the bacteria since it rarely comes from a single cut of meat, but rather from multiple sources ground together in a process that makes contamination possible every step of the way. The Times tracked the source of the woman's burger to various slaughterhouses and packaging plants in the U.S. and Uruguay. (A journalistic feat in itself, since such details are shrouded in secrecy). Inadequate testing and lax safety mechanisms along the way led to the tainted burger.
"As the trimmings are going down the processing line into combos or boxes, no one is inspecting every single piece," said one federal inspector... who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publically.
Yikes. Despite a rash of outbreaks, media attention and federal regulations that forbid companies from selling meat tainted with E.coli, eating ground beef is "still a gamble" the article contends. Every year, tens of thousands fall ill from the bacteria.
“Ground beef is not a completely safe product,” said Dr. Jeffrey Bender, a food safety expert at the University of Minnesota who helped develop systems for tracing E. coli contamination. He said that while outbreaks had been on the decline, “unfortunately it looks like we are going a bit in the opposite direction.”
The American Meat Institute acknowledged the industry isn't perfect, but a spokesman said it has made considerable improvements.
But will big processing plants stop making ground beef from multiple sources? Making burgers from trimmings from numerous sources cuts costs for producers. But what about the costs of selling contaminated meat? Cargill, the company that sold burgers that left the woman paralyzed had to recall more than 800,000 patties responsible for sickening some 900 people back in 2007.
It's important to note the vast majority of people infected with E.coli get better on their own, the article explains. But clearly, the minority of severe cases can be devastating.
photo courtesy of CDC
Comments
Can you address irradiation and how this is protective? Does this kill E. Coli? The last time I had a burger craving, I bought irradiated ground beef, hoping it would be safer. (I don't have any concerns about the irradiation process itself, though I know some people have an issue with it).
Posted by: Debra | October 5, 2009 8:17 AM
Doesn't properly cooking your burgers/meat (internal temp. of 160 degrees) kill E. coli? I'm pretty sure it does.
Posted by: RegW | October 5, 2009 1:17 PM
You could always go vegan/vegetarian and cut your risk entirely like myself and many others have done. Your taste buds will adapt and you'll skip that first heart attack as well.
Posted by: Don | October 5, 2009 2:26 PM
"Doesn't properly cooking your burgers/meat (internal temp. of 160 degrees) kill E. coli? I'm pretty sure it does."
I'm pretty sure it kills the flavor too, unfortunately.
Posted by: aspiring locavore | October 5, 2009 6:22 PM
Provided the average temperature is getting higher, accordingly all forms of germs, viruses, and influenza etc are more likely to multiply.
Some skeptics say the warning against hazards of climate change is overstated, but judging from more frequent and widespread outbreaks of e. coli, salmonella, and bird, swine flu cases endangering human lives and economic recovery seriously, some prompt measures need to be taken, I guess.
Posted by: hsr0601 | October 6, 2009 9:49 AM
I read the story and was also quite disgruntled. I'm more of a turkey burger gal. And recently, I've started eating veggie burgers, which are quite tasty, much to my surprise.
Posted by: RIF | October 6, 2009 12:52 PM
great tip! good thing veggies don't get contaminated.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-nw-brief3-0919sep19,0,7337596.story
Posted by: Anonymous | October 6, 2009 1:50 PM
It's unforunate that the New York Times story failed to put E. coli in perspective and failed to acknowledge the progress that's been made. USDA samples ground beef for E. coli O157:H7. According to the Department's data, since 2000, the number of samples testing positive has dropped 45 percent. One-half of one percent of samples pulled by USDA test positive.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the number of human E. coli infections (from all foods, they aren't broken out by source) has dropped by 44 percent. This is great progress and it's unfortunate that the Times failed to include that, even though it was provided.
Certainly, the meat industry's goal is zero E. coli; we will continue to work to that end. It's good four our families and our customers.
Janet Riley, American Meat Institute
Posted by: Janet Riley | October 6, 2009 2:02 PM
Veggies can be contaminated with E. coli; cross-contamination can occur any time during the food preparation process. My advice would be to think twice, take a few cooking classes and eat at home. Food service and meat packing workers aren't necessarily the cleanest people in the world. Pressure to put out products rapidly causes food safety requirements to fly out the window. Also, don't trust the mouthpieces from organizations that make a profit from selling food to you--some of them are in it for the money, not the safety of the public.
Posted by: Debra Berry | October 7, 2009 4:36 AM
As a vegetarian I don't have to worry about this for my family but one solution is to buy a good cut of beef and grind it yourself or have a butcher do it for you. That way the problem of having meat from 3,000 cows in your burger is eliminated and the multiple steps at which contamination could occur are reduced. Commercial ground beef - its NOT what's for dinner.
Posted by: kathryn | October 7, 2009 8:17 AM
From the story:
"A test by The Times found that the safe handling instructions are not enough to prevent the bacteria from spreading in the kitchen."
Posted by: M | October 7, 2009 12:07 PM
Cargill Settles E. Coli Suit: http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/13322#more-13322
Posted by: Cynthia | October 13, 2009 2:39 AM