NEWS: Beef Recalls, E Coli, and the USDA

CULTURE: Beef Recalls, E Coli, and the USDA

Is it me, or is recalling massive amounts of E. coli-laced ground beef the new black? Back in September, Topps Meat Company issued the second largest meat recall in U.S. history: 27.1 million pounds of ground beef products. The economic impact on the company was so great that they were forced to file for bankruptcy and shut down operations. After 67 years of business, Topps closed its doors.

Now, just two months later, American Foods Group is voluntarily recalling "approximately 95,927 pounds of various coarse and fine ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli."

For those who don't know (or who just enjoy the morbidly scatological) E. coli infection often causes bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and occasionally even leads to kidney failure. Most cases are associated with eating undercooked, contaminated ground beef. With that in mind, the USDA allows that "presumptively positive ground beef and beef trimmings that have failed to be “non-negative” for E. coli O157:H7 be sent for further processing—which includes cooking to the thermal death stage for all pathogens." Wait, what?

Ohh, cool. So basically, the USDA is saying it's "A OK" to knowingly sell contaminated beef, because it'll probably be "processed" in such a way that renders it safe. Clearly that works like a charm.

It seems to me that leaving it up to processors and consumers to "cook the product thoroughly to 160oF minimally" is a cop out and a big risk--not only in regards to the health of customers, but in an economical sense. Perhaps if USDA restrictions had been tighter, Topps would have avoided the recall that did them in, and maybe even halted production of the year's worth of beef that went to waste.

maybe i should stop eating meat!!!


mmm...
never!!

You. Me. Babies. Now.

Oh god, I cry for the loss of Topp's... Maaaan, if you can't survive a little e-coli, how will you survive war with aliens/robots/terrorists? We need to weed out the weak SOMEhow!

<Stops eating undercooked American Foods beef off off his mattel winnie the pooh plate>


Huh? don't bother me, I'm eating.

What's with all the high profile recalls? I mean, any given month theres a recal for something but the past six months have been massive recalls

At least they've got all that baseball card business to fall back on.

1) The two biggest E. Coli outbreaks in the last two years have been from spinach and green onions, respectively. So not eating meat won't help.

2) The packaging on the meat sold as potentially E. Coli contaminated clearly says "cook only". I'm honestly not sure how much more the USDA/FDA can or SHOULD do. And this is coming from a card-carrying, Purell-carrying, hypochondriacal nutjob (hi fellow nutjobs!).

I mean, I miss rare burgers as much as the next lady, but its unreasonable to think that we are going to eradicate E. Coli from the environment entirely, and throwing out millions of pounds of perfectly good food because there is an easily-killable, common bacteria on it seems foolish, no?

I mean, seriously, think about all the resources wasted to raise that cattle and all the people that meat could've fed.

Agreed.

Thank you.

good editorial Rahodeb. thank you.

my guess is that a lot of the e. coli infected cows has to do with their diet. cows are fed lots of corn because the us has so much corn they don't know what to do with it. since a cow's rumen probably evolved to do things like digest cellulose like grass, the bacterial flora of a cow rumen might change because of the different conditions under a corn diet. maybe this leads to an increase in e. coli o157:h7-infected cows?

that's just my hypothesis...could totally be way off-mark.

also, i think health departments may be more sensitive to detect these types of food-borne outbreaks (be it spinach, beef, frozen pies, etc) in addition to an increase in the types of outbreaks.

and no, i haven't read the omnivore's dilemma.

Yeah, as long as we cook the meat filled with feces long enough, its perfectly edible.

. . . could beeee

Yup, and as long as you wash your veggies that are hosed with " natural fertilizer" really well you won't be licking bits of cow ass off your salad either.

isn't that defeating the purpose, though? i mean, i don't order cow ass salad for the laughs.

The nature of the business dictates that the majority of meat recalled by Topp's was already sold, cooked and consumed before the recall was announced. They aren't getting back anywhere near 27 million pounds of product - supermarkets sell a lot of frozen burgers and rotate stock regularly to minimize spoiled product and inventory levels and maximize shelf turnover and profit. The company filed for bankruptcy as an anti-lawsuit tactic most likely; I'd be surprised if it didn't come back under another name in the same buildings, sooner rather than later.

Newsflash:

Eating raw, undercooked or poorly handled food increases your chance of food-borne illness. Remember all those people who got e.coli from green onions at fast food restaurants?

No? The aforementioned huge E.coli outbreak from California spinach?

No? All those warnings about raw eggs and undercoooked chicken giving you salmonella? Shit! Better hide that caesar salad!

Perspective and reading comprehension are your friends.

Well, first of all, this is the main reason I don't eat mcdonalds or burger king or any other beef based fast food. Or just fast food in general... I don't trust a 15 year old school kid getting paid 8 bucks an hour to cook my food properly and not spit (or worse) in my burger. And if you think that shit doesn't happen, I know too many people that have worked in fast food who could tell you otherwise. Oh and I like being healthy... another good reason.

However, anyone stupid enough not to cook their own meat properly deserves bloody diarrhoea. L2cook. There's no reason this meat had to be wasted... It's shit like this that (god forbid) makes me sympathise with the ethical vegans. I advocate the slaughtering of animals for consumption but when it's just going to unnecessary waste like this, it makes me angry.

Fast Food Nation. Rent it. Better yet read the book. We only hear a tip, a tiny tip of this ice berg.

Hey. If they offer you "bagel steak" in SC , don't go for it.

Well readers of Fast Food Nation would recall that it's industry lobbying that has kept the standards as low as they are now, so Topps has only themselves to blame.

If you are referring to last year's scare, it was ultimately determined to have been lettuce rather than green onions. There was a hepatitis outbreak attributed to green onions a few years ago, though. Either way, point made.

Thanks for the clarification.

Organic, grassfed, no antibiotics, no hormones...only way to eat it...know where it comes from, how it's treated, etc. Or don't eat it. Not a good idea anyway, if even from environmental standards and water usage. I admit I like it on occasion as a recovering veggie, but, it's not the best idea. Facts support that much.

BWAHAHA!!! My Vegetarian Powers Thwart you!