General Discussion

muriel_volestrangler

(106,214 posts)

40. Beef had the lowest contanimation in the test

Reply to Amerigo Vespucci (Original post)

Fri Dec 30, 2011, 10:10 AM

Dec 2011

Huffington Post incorrectly makes this just about ground meat; and the thread title has made that worse, by claiming this is just about ground beef. It's not; from the actual paper:

Retail beef (ground), chicken (breasts, thighs), pork (chops, ground), and turkey (ground, cutlets) products were collected from 26 retail grocery stores in 5 US cities: Chicago; Washington, DC; Fort Lauderdale; Los Angeles; and Flagstaff.
...
We collected and tested a total of 136 meat and poultry samples from 5 US cities, encompassing 80 unique brands from 26 grocery stores. S. aureus contamination was most common among turkey samples (77%; 20/26), followed by pork (42%; 11/26), chicken (41%; 19/46), and beef (37%; 14/38). A subset of meat and poultry samples (10%; 14/136) was contaminated by multiple unique S. aureus strains as determined by MLST and susceptibility profiles, and a total of 79 unique isolates were used in subsequent analyses.
...
Multidrug resistance, defined as intermediate or complete resistance to 3 or more antimicrobial classes, was common among the S. aureus isolates (52%) and most prevalent among S. aureus isolates from turkey (79%; 22/28), followed by those from pork (64%; 7/11), beef (35%; 6/17), and chicken (26%; 6/23).

http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/04/14/cid.cir181.full

So the ground beef multiple resistance figure is actually 35% of 37%, or 13%. Compare that with the turkey figure - 79% of 77%, or 61%. Mind you, beef is the meat that more people like to have rare, so it probably is the one people need to be reminded the most about cooking.

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There's a 25% chance your supermarket ground beef contains antibiotic-resistant fatal bacteria [View all] Amerigo Vespucci Dec 2011 OP

Staph burgers, yummy! n/t bitchkitty Dec 2011 #1

Best to stop eating meat nobodyspecial Dec 2011 #2

or at least sylveste Dec 2011 #3

So, if I'm cooking beef, what is the best temp to cook to? tammywammy Dec 2011 #4

If you didn't grind it yourself, cook it gray all the way through kenny blankenship Dec 2011 #10

That's a great post tammywammy Dec 2011 #16

Thank you. It's my pleasure to share this information- kenny blankenship Dec 2011 #21

A very good post. UnrepentantLiberal Dec 2011 #25

Excellent information. Thank you. laundry_queen Dec 2011 #70

medium rare is not ok magical thyme Dec 2011 #56

Honestly, so what. downwardly_mobile Dec 2011 #5

Or you could eat a lot less but very good meat. Luminous Animal Dec 2011 #6

I don't know if it would be better for my health -- downwardly_mobile Dec 2011 #7

What about ground turkey? Zalatix Dec 2011 #8

I lost 30lbs this summer from ground turkey food poisoning. Luminous Animal Dec 2011 #13

I am sorry to hear that Tsiyu Dec 2011 #17

Oddly enough, I rarely eat meat. It was actually a whim! Luminous Animal Dec 2011 #26

Did you sue the restaurant? Holy moley Tsiyu Dec 2011 #68

It's the worst of the lot - see figures in reply #40 muriel_volestrangler Dec 2011 #41

What do they mean by "brands" or "pre-ground meat products"? frazzled Dec 2011 #9

The Wired article says it is packages of ground meat. The Wired article also has a link to Luminous Animal Dec 2011 #14

No, it says it's not just ground meat muriel_volestrangler Dec 2011 #39

Food can kill you if you don't know how to prepare it. boppers Dec 2011 #11

Food can kill you when it is produced on factory farms. Luminous Animal Dec 2011 #15

Food can also kill you when it is produced on Organic, "green", farms. boppers Dec 2011 #18

Your source is incorrect. It had nothing to do organic fertilizer. Luminous Animal Dec 2011 #22

Please tell me about your danger-free foods. boppers Dec 2011 #35

There are no danger-free foods but certainly there are methods of farming Luminous Animal Dec 2011 #36

The "newsletter" statement is an internet shibboleth. boppers Dec 2011 #77

No more medium rare burger when I eat out? Hassin Bin Sober Dec 2011 #12

Don't eat out at places that use "supermarket" ground beef for their burgers slackmaster Dec 2011 #43

I guess my question is how much better can a nicer places beef be? Hassin Bin Sober Dec 2011 #55

Let me put it this way - I have gotten sick from McD's, BK, and JitB but never from places... slackmaster Dec 2011 #57

I would no more eat a cow, pig or chicken- than one of my cats, horses or dog. BeHereNow Dec 2011 #19

Humans are omnivores, eating meat is natural. Odin2005 Dec 2011 #47

But the meat on the market is FAR from natural... BeHereNow Dec 2011 #58

Who buys supermarket ground beef these days???? JDPriestly Dec 2011 #20

The vast majority. Luminous Animal Dec 2011 #23

Really? Who DOESN'T, if you have a family to feed and don't have the bucks TwilightGardener Dec 2011 #48

cook the crap out of raw meat Warren DeMontague Dec 2011 #24

That's what it comes down to when the vast majority of meat available Luminous Animal Dec 2011 #28

actually, I don't buy ground beef, only free range humanely raised poultry Warren DeMontague Dec 2011 #31

Yes. The vast majority of meat eaters have to cook all the flavor Luminous Animal Dec 2011 #33

Jesus fucking Christ. I'm only trying to help. Warren DeMontague Dec 2011 #34

LOL Hassin Bin Sober Dec 2011 #60

that is wonderful you can afford free range poultry tabbycat31 Dec 2011 #53

Let's see, which is worse, more expensive food or a major bacteria infection outbreak? Zalatix Dec 2011 #59

Trader Joe's. Warren DeMontague Dec 2011 #69

There are also ways to make, for instance, a single chicken breast go a long way Warren DeMontague Dec 2011 #74

I would love to see huge agro companies put out of business Marrah_G Dec 2011 #64

So that explains the 1 in 4 dead people at the meat counter thelordofhell Dec 2011 #27

It is amazing how easily we've accepted that killer bacteria is a natural Luminous Animal Dec 2011 #29

Because killer bacteria has always been part of the food chain jeff47 Dec 2011 #46

It is part of the food chain Marrah_G Dec 2011 #65

1 in 4 do get sick SOS Dec 2011 #51

Another great reason to be a vegetarian :) /nt workinclasszero Dec 2011 #30

Yes, because is too is so very safe..... Sherman A1 Dec 2011 #32

I'm glad someone pointed out one of the important, if peripheral, Trillo Dec 2011 #54

Except for the killer cantaloupes. TwilightGardener Dec 2011 #49

Oh geez, thanks so much for that. Bastid. nt DCKit Dec 2011 #37

Just a couple of weeks ago, I ate some burgers from a batch recalled for Salmonella PotatoChip Dec 2011 #38

Beef had the lowest contanimation in the test muriel_volestrangler Dec 2011 #40

Do what we Texans always do... derby378 Dec 2011 #42

Yet another reason to support organic farmers of grass raised beef Marrah_G Dec 2011 #44

Organic grass-fed beef is just as susceptible to E-coli bacteria frazzled Dec 2011 #50

If you deal directly with small farmers I think its safer Marrah_G Dec 2011 #62

this is why one should NEVER eat ground beef that is not well done. Odin2005 Dec 2011 #45

BS article Weisbergkevin Dec 2011 #52

We've been meaning to tell you something, umm, did you watch Lost? Well DU is.....ahh you'll figure Hassin Bin Sober Dec 2011 #61

I knew it! n/t librechik Dec 2011 #63

That's what I thought too. I love hamburger and eat it all the time. And I get mine totodeinhere Dec 2011 #66

Really? That's your reasoning? laundry_queen Dec 2011 #71

The only representation I made was that I eat a lot of hamburger and never get sick. totodeinhere Dec 2011 #73

Never buy the stuff. Fortunately, I am a vegetarian. n/t RebelOne Dec 2011 #67

On the CBC last year they did a story laundry_queen Dec 2011 #72

That is why i ask for burnt Rex Dec 2011 #75

I cook the hell out of all the meat I eat The Genealogist Dec 2011 #76