Nationwide study finds U.S. meat and poultry is widely contaminated — Multi-drug-resistant Staph…

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.tgen.org/news/index.cfm?newsid=1948

Nationwide study finds U.S. meat and poultry is widely contaminated

Multi-drug-resistant Staph found in nearly 1 in 4 samples, review shows

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — April 15, 2011 — Drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria linked to a wide range of human diseases, are present in meat and poultry from U.S. grocery stores at unexpectedly high rates, according to a nationwide study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

Nearly half of the meat and poultry samples — 47 percent — were contaminated with S. aureus, and more than half of those bacteria — 52 percent — were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics, according to the study published today in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

This is the first national assessment of antibiotic resistant S. aureus in the U.S. food supply. And, DNA testing suggests that the food animals themselves were the major source of contamination.

Although Staph should be killed with proper cooking, it may still pose a risk to consumers through improper food handling and cross-contamination in the kitchen.

…

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

[snagglepuss]

1. I don't eat beef but I wonder if people who do eat it put themselves at risk

if they eat beef rare or medium rare?

[sasha031]

2. gave up meat 25yrs ago, never have I regretted it

[orwell]

5. Right there with ya...

...don't miss it at all.

I worked in a meat plant so I know what goes on...

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. Doneness Versus Safety

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/doneness_versus_safety/index.asp

Doneness Versus Safety

…

FSIS reports that even if hamburgers look fully cooked, one in four hamburgers may not be safely cooked. Yet only 6 percent of home cooks use a food thermometer for hamburgers and only 10 percent use a food thermometer for chicken breasts, according to the latest data from the Food Safety Survey, which was conducted by FSIS and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

…

Beef
Beef roasts cooked to 160 °F will generally have very little pinkness to the meat, and the juices will not be pink or red. Below the temperature of 160 °F, the center of the roast will be pink or red, depending on the internal temperature. A beef roast cooked to 145 °F in the center can be considered safe since the exterior of the roast would have reached a temperature high enough to destroy bacteria, unless it is a rolled roast or one that has been mechanically tenderized. A consumer would not be able to determine if a roast that was pink in the center had reached the safe temperature of 145 °F without a food thermometer.

…

Ground Meat and Poultry
Research indicates that the color of the meat and the color of the juices are not accurate indicators of doneness. Ground beef may turn brown before it has reached a temperature at which bacteria are destroyed. A consumer preparing hamburger patties and depending on visual signs to determine safety by using the brown color as an indicator is taking a chance that pathogenic microorganisms may survive. A hamburger cooked to 160 °F (165 °F for ground poultry), measured with a food thermometer throughout the patty, is safe — regardless of color.

…

[snagglepuss]

6. So the staph like ecoli is simply be on the surface of the roast?

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Commercial beef rare I would not do.

The local organic beef I get, I eat some cuts med. rare.

Any commercial meat I buy, I wash a lot, and cook through, completely.
But we eat much less commercial meat as time goes on. I do not not trust it anymore, from a nutritional standpoint.