The Burger That Shattered her Life

[Thickasabrick]

I am officially off meat....after I use up everything already in the freezer...(I hate waste).

This article goes into great detail as to the lack of oversight that goes into that ground beef you are eating. Beware, it is six pages long. I read it before I went to sleep at 2 am and I couldn't go to sleep after thinking about it until 4 am.

This woman is paralyzed for life - and to me the biggest culprit is our fucking government. I am highlighting the paragraph that kept me up:

Dr. Kenneth Petersen, an assistant administrator with the department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, said that the department could mandate testing, but that it needed to consider the impact on companies as well as consumers. “I have to look at the entire industry, not just what is best for public health,” Dr. Petersen said.

WTF????

The above paragraph shows up on page 4 - it is a long article but really worth the read.




http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?hp

[MineralMan]

1. Don't eat ground beef, unless it is ground from meat you select.

Visit a real butcher and pick the meat and have him/her grind it for you. Then, cook it thoroughly.

Or skip the stuff altogether.

[LuvNewcastle]

3. Do you know if ground turkey

is any safer? I often use it as a substitute.

[KittyWampus]

5. I don't know about the E.coli but it probably is still made from dregs of butchering process.

[SOS]

70. One thing that was really stunning

was that the beef was packaged as if it were the finest beef product available.
Yet the article points out that it was essentially made from waste scraped off the slaughterhouse floor.

Why people continue to trust large American corporations is mystifying.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

11. I think it depends

You can get ground turkey or ground turkey breast. I would assume the latter would be safer. I believe you can find ground chicken breast, also. Safer yet would be to buy/grind your own.

I haven't eaten beef since I was a kid and everything I hear about it makes me glad. Wish I could remember where I saw footage of a cow's trip through a slaughterhouse. When you have animals shitting in horror and intestines all over the floor, chunks of meat falling to said floor and being whipped up and back into the production line, it's no mystery how E. coli and tons of debris get into the end product.

Even more sad is that those pricey organic meats are being sent to the same abattoirs in the end. . .

We haven't come so far since Upton Sinclair at all, have we? :scared:

[MineralMan]

13. I haven't heard of any e.coli in ground turkey, but

cook it thoroughly, anyhow. It's subject to salmonella contamination.

In fact, you should thoroughly cook any ground meat that wasn't ground from whole cuts you could see being ground. That's the only way to make sure you kill any bacteria.

The problem is that ground meat has a much larger surface area to become contaminated. That's why it's OK to eat a rare steak, since the surface gets thoroughly cooked. That's also why you can eat a rare burger ground from a whole cut shortly before cooking.

Bulk ground meats contain many sources of meat, generally, and a single contaminated hunk of meat can contaminate a large amount of ground meat, which then sits around for some time. Even under refrigeration, bacteria can reproduce...just more slowly.

If you buy ground meat, cook it until you can no longer see any uncooked parts, or use a meat thermometer to get it to 160 degrees F. That will destroy all but a few bacterial contaminants. Cooking doesn't destroy the toxins from a few rare contaminants, but that's rarely a problem.

[Motown_Johnny]

19. Exactly.....

you sound like you are in the business..




Just to confirm...



You always cook poultry fully (160 or higher) so there is no E. Coli danger, it dies the same way salmonella does.


Also the problem with E. Coli in ground beef is that it is an anaerobic bacteria, that is to say it does not need exposure to oxygen to live. That way it can be on the inside of your burger that you cook medium rare and you don't get that part of the patty hot enough to kill it.



Basically you should always cook any ground meet completely (to 160 or higher)

[MineralMan]

22. No, not in the business...just educated.

[LeftishBrit]

45. Thanks for excellent advice

[Barack_America]

2. Scary. It's just dangerous getting our food from corporations, period.

Anyone who is powerful enough to argue that their profit margin is more important than pubic safety is a public health danger.

[Thickasabrick]

6. For me, that is the bigger story here. It is about whose interests

the government is looking out for....in this case, it is clearly the corporations.

[KittyWampus]

8. I mentioned in another thread about this story- this is why Cargill etc want food irradiation

At the root of the problem is not allowing workers the time and space to do their jobs properly.

Oh, and corporations refusing to do proper testing.

Heaven forbid any batch of meat get thrown out should it be found contaminated.

So on the tail end, corporations want to just irradiate food.

[Thickasabrick]

10. I am really starting to hate the meat industry - the part in the article

about the employees who are suing one plant because they aren't paid to clean up their equipment? WTF?

Also, not in this article, the government does not allow independent cow farms to test for Mad Cow - the government said it unfairly penalized the people in the industry who didn't do it.

Why is the government not looking after us???

[CrispyQ]

9. Some things never change.

:banghead:

BTW, I love your screen name! :hi:

[Kali]

4. I never EVER buy bulk ground beef,

but occasionally will buy store ground and often buy sale cuts and have it ground. We mostly raise our own.

BUT even so, the fact is millions of people eat millions of pounds of the stuff and DON'T get sick. You are free to make whatever food/lifestyle choices you want, but if you are going to attempt to apply logic and real odds to the matter, giving up meat is not really going to help.

[Barack_America]

7. Millions of people eat it and don't die or become paralyzed.

Many people who eat it get sick.

[Kali]

17. not really

a few hundred (or even thousand) reports of illness and maybe 2 or three times as many that don't get reported and some portion that may have a slight upset but not even to the point of noticing does not equal "many" compared to the numbers consuming and not getting sick at all.

(and don't forget that some cases are the result of poor consumer handling, not just process contamination)

[Motown_Johnny]

21. hundreds of millions of people eat bulk ground beef every day

not to say that there shouldn't be better inspection, there should be. But the idea that all bulk ground beef is unsafe is insane.

[Barack_America]

24. I think it's safe to say that all mass produced ground beef is potentially unsafe.

And that consumption of it is risky.

Everyone is free to choose the degree of risk they are comfortable exposing themselves to.

[MineralMan]

27. All raw meat products are potentially unsafe.

Proper cooking and handling will minimize your individual risk. Know how your food is prepared, or prepare it yourself, following safe practices, and you will not become ill.

There are restaurants where I will eat steak tartare, and there are restaurants where I will eat nothing.

[Gormy Cuss]

31. It's safe to say that all mass produced food sold raw is potentially unsafe.

Remember the recent vegetable and fruit recalls?

It's best to assume that all raw food from the supermarket has been handled enough to be mishandled at least once and plan accordingly -- wash it or cook it well before consuming.

[Barack_America]

34. I do.

Like I said, everyone has to determine their own risk. And there is risk to everything.

We started our own organic garden plot this year and are hoping to expand it next year to pretty much sustain us.

I enjoy being able to see where my food is coming from.

[Gormy Cuss]

40. I enjoy it too.

I know what was used to fertilize the plant, I know that no herbicides or pesticides were used on that food. I also know that cosmetically challenged fruits and vegetables are good, flavorful food.

What I like best about growing my own is that I eat food in season much more this way. I don't buy tomatoes in the middle of winter any more -- they just don't taste good to me.

The extension of the home garden (or the substitute for those who can't garden)is buying local as much as possible. Some supermarket chains make a point of labeling locally grown produce as such. It doesn't always require a trip to a farmer's market or farm stand in order to add local food.

[MineralMan]

25. True. And undercooking and improper handling by

consumers is a huge factor in food-borne illness. I've seen the most awful food-handling techniques in homes. There are several family-members on my wife's side whose food I will not eat, because I've observed them in the kitchen.

[Motown_Johnny]

28. also, if it is not kept refrigerated properly there can be serious issues

I did not read the article in the OP but I must assume that the ground beef in question was not only contaminated but also improperly stored. This would allow the bacteria time to grow/breed until there was enough of it to make an adult ill. Then it was not fully cooked to kill the bacteria.


This is like a plane crash, it takes more than one thing going wrong to cause the disaster.

[MineralMan]

32. Yup. Proper storage is part of proper handling.

An awful lot of people don't understand proper food handling at all. It's no longer taught in schools, and many people cook rarely. It's sad, really.

Seems to me that a couple of classes in high school could handle teaching basic food safety issues. We need a required class on Life and Living in our schools. It could cover health issues, sexuality issues, money issues, and food issues. Why we do not teach these things, I cannot understand.

[SOS]

69. The article points out

that short of cleaning everything with bleach every day, it's nearly impossible to kill this E. Coli:

"In the wake of the outbreak, the U.S.D.A. reminded consumers on its Web site that hamburgers had to be cooked to 160 degrees to be sure any E. coli is killed and urged them to use a thermometer to check the temperature.

But the pathogen is so powerful that her illness could have started with just a few cells left on a counter. “In a warm kitchen, E. coli cells will double every 45 minutes,” said Dr. Mansour Samadpour, a microbiologist who runs IEH Laboratories in Seattle, one of the meat industry’s largest testing firms.

With help from his laboratories, The Times prepared three pounds of ground beef dosed with a strain of E. coli that is nonharmful but acts in many ways like O157:H7. Although the safety instructions on the package were followed, E. coli remained on the cutting board even after it was washed with soap. A towel picked up large amounts of bacteria from the meat."

Dr. James Marsden, a meat safety expert at Kansas State University said the Department of Agriculture needed to issue better guidance on avoiding cross-contamination, like urging people to use bleach to sterilize cutting boards. “Even if you are a scientist, much less a housewife with a child, it’s very difficult,” Dr. Marsden said.

[SOS]

75. There are 73,000 e. coli:157 poisonings a year in the US

5-10% result in hemolytic uremic syndrome.
That's 3,650 - 7,300 cases where the kidneys are permanently damaged.
In the worst cases, like the one in this article, kidney damage is coupled with nervous system damage resulting in paralysis and brain damage.
63 people a year die.

While the risk is small, the damage in severe cases will destroy the victims life.

If the cows were grazed on grass, rather than fed corn, cement dust and old newspapers, this problem would mostly disappear.
The e.coli thrives on the unnatural acid balance in the cow's digestive tract, due to the garbage these animals are fed.

But grazing the cows would drop Cargill's stock price, so they prefer to leave thousands of victims on dialysis and in wheelchairs every year.

[JonQ]

84. True

also true of fresh fruit and vegetables, milk, eggs, etc.

[nc4bo]

12. *retching*

The frozen hamburgers that the Smiths ate, which were made by the food giant Cargill, were labeled “American Chef’s Selection Angus Beef Patties.” Yet confidential grinding logs and other Cargill records show that the hamburgers were made from a mix of slaughterhouse trimmings and a mash-like product derived from scraps that were ground together at a plant in Wisconsin. The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria.

:wtf:

[TwilightGardener]

14. Yuck. Gross. Why don't we just change the law to require testing

of all incoming and outgoing ingredients, from slaughter to processor to supermarket/restaurant? Or forbid the use of trimmings? Oh, wait...Republicans would say new regulations harm the meat industry. Never mind, carry on with disgusting practices to protect the bottom line.

[Thickasabrick]

16. That would be the progressive thing to do and I am hoping that

some of our progressive congress critters will take up this cause despite the billions that will be used by meat industry lobbyists to fight any kind of reform.

[Kali]

20. consumers are not willing to pay $4 or 5/lb for hamburger

that is the REAL bottom line. People are free to do so (I will gladly sell you some pasture raised all organic ground beef for that price), but not many can afford it and many that can still won't pay it.


oh and trimmings are just pieces of fat and muscle cut off roasts and steaks to make them look pretty for the case - that is traditionally all that hamburger and sausage were made from. Now, you can grind any cut but "trimmings" in and of themselves are nothing particularly bad or icky. The problem is mixing trimmings from different locations and many different animals. That is when it becomes difficult to sort out where potential contamination originates.

[TwilightGardener]

33. OK, then forbid the use of trimmings that were transferred between facilities.

Or require testing of all incoming and outgoing batches of trimmings. I doubt ground beef would go up by THAT much more a pound with more aggressive testing. And if it does...people will buy less, and the companies' bottom line will suffer. I'd also like to see cruel, disgusting, crowded feedlots go by the wayside (having been assaulted by the stench every time I drive across Nebraska and Colorado), but I know for sure that that would cause beef prices to skyrocket, so I don't expect that to happen.

[Kali]

41. don't buy bulk ground beef

preformed patties are almost always the cause of these outbreaks and recalls

better yet find a small producer if you can and buy from them

I wouldn't have a problem buying form a small local slaughter plant that mixed trimmings from a few animals but the thought of the mixtures in the quantities the big companies use grosses me right out. Of course I enjoy the occasional junk food hamburger or taco and you know that is all the same crap so I confess to a bit of hypocrisy there, though I never buy it in a store.

feedlots may seem crowded and cruel (and can be) but anybody that knows cattle will tell you that most cattle prefer to be near each other and are perfectly "happy" to have food an water close by, not having to walk long distances for either. While not ideal or particularly "natural" they aren't the horrible existence we enjoy projecting either.

I have animals that would prefer to stand around in a pen and be fed than go walk around and graze naturally - they will stand and bawl for feed with the gate standing open. (I have others that would jump out and run off - there is personality factor for sure)

[TwilightGardener]

51. I have to disagree, I'm pretty sure cattle should be grazing

on grass (which is what their bodies are designed to do) than stand all day in a pen in their own and others' feces and urine and ammonia stench and resulting mud. I can't stand the smell from several miles away--it must be unbearable for them.

[Kali]

58. Not sure what you are disagreeing with.

Yes they should be grazing grass (they browse too, BTW) but my point was THEY don't mind standing in a pen with other cattle being fed whatever - now that may make them a little less healthy than their free-ranging siblings, and often causes liver problems - but THEY don't mind - they will eat all kinds of odd things - even out in nature (ask me about all the garbage they pick up and eat sometime) - that is the "miracle" of ruminants - the ability to eat and produce (delicious) human-edible protein from otherwise inedible (to humans) stuff - even old dry grass or cornstalks.

[Gormy Cuss]

39. Thirty cents per pound... that's what Cargill saved.

Figure that at retail that would add maybe sixty cents per lb to the retail price of their ground meat. That's all it would take to reduce the risk dramatically and yet we're not forcing them to do so.

In combining the ingredients, Cargill was following a common industry practice of mixing trim from various suppliers to hit the desired fat content for the least money, industry officials said.

In all, the ingredients for Ms. Smith’s burger cost Cargill about $1 a pound, company records show, or about 30 cents less than industry experts say it would cost for ground beef made from whole cuts of meat.

[onehandle]

15. Beef is pain and death in many other ways. nt

[Pavulon]

18. Tasty center cut aged pain..mmm. (nt)

[KittyWampus]

23. Life itself is pain and death.

[Barack_America]

26. Do we not try to minimize this for ourselves?

Why should we not do the same for the lives we take for our own nourishment and pleasure?

[KittyWampus]

43. Yes, of course.

[Lorien]

48. The whole thing? Really? Your life is just as bad as that of and animal

who spends it's life standing in it's own feces, then is skinned alive at a processing plant? Wow, that's awful. I hope that things improve for you soon.

[Kali]

53. what animal are you talking about here?

I don't know of any that spend their whole lives standing in their own feces or any situation where animals are skinned alive. That is total nonsense even considering the worst of "factory" farming or the most intensive slaughter facilities.

[KittyWampus]

55. Here is some artwork that expresses my intent:

Life and Death Completed by Gustav Klimt

[Sal Minella]

57. For those who believe it is so

it is so.

[fascisthunter]

29. consumers are the cattle of the corporate class

they'd probably mulch us all into their products if they could.

[Odin2005]

30. Remember, always thoroughly cook ground beef!

[wroberts189]

35. So There you have it once again..profits over people. Fully being admitted now.

“I have to look at the entire industry, not just what is best for public health,” Dr. Petersen said.

I am amazed at that statement and he should be fired. He does not know his job.

knr

[TwilightGardener]

37. That is an amazing admission, since he's the official in charge of FOOD SAFETY.

I guess he's also in charge of looking the other way to protect the meat industry.

[LeftishBrit]

44. Just wow

One of the questions in one of the commonest IQ tests used for children is "Why is it important for the government to make sure that meat is inspected before it is sold?"

It seems that Petersen would fail that item.

[Retired AF Dem]

36. This is why most of the meat I eat

I have taken while hunting. I will also not eat in any restaurant, been in to many of their kitchens and the smell is enough to make you retch. The deer season in AL is long enough to stay stocked for a year. I can hunt year round for Boar. I do my turkey hunting in TN. I have a large garden and grow most of my veggies. When I shop in a grocery store I mostly buy cleaning supplies, orange juice, tea, coffee, cheese, milk and spices.

[druidity33]

102. you'll live to be a hundred!

as long as you don't break a leg while out in the woods.....

:)


are you a shooter or an archer?

[Xithras]

38. I make my own ground beef.

ALL of my beef is organic and raised at a small ranch a few miles up the road from me, so I know exactly where it comes from (the advantage of living in the boonieS). When we want hamburger, I just buy some chuck and feed it into my Kitchenaid food grinder. Truthfully though, I don't do this for food safety reasons. We tried it a number of years ago to test out the food grinder and were simply floored at how much BETTER fresh burgers taste. The fact that it's safer was simply a bonus.

[wildbilln864]

42. k&r! nt

[alfredo]

46. You never know if you are eating feces.

[Lorien]

49. Face it; most Americans would rather eat shit and die

than give up their tasty burgers.

[alfredo]

54. I can make a Chic Pea burger that will make them weep with joy.

[eppur_se_muova]

61. Try a felafel burger. With sprouts, tomato, and tahini sauce.

Had these at a gourmet veggie restaurant in Pittsburgh. Dee-lish! Sadly, I think they eventually closed, but I'm not sure.

[alfredo]

63. I love mediterranean foods. We have a Palestinian restaurant in town that

makes wonderful felafel.

[K8-EEE]

97. Love me some falafel! Really think recreational crap-eating in the US

is killing more people than even drinking and smoking. I was in France last year and you don't see all the obesity there that you do here; also don't see people walking around downing GIANT sodas or eating in their car drive thrus or all those chain restaurants where they serve dinner on a platter instead of a plate.

And all the rest of it!! People sit down and eat normal portions of yummy stuff. What a concept.

[BlooInBloo]

79. I have no doubt that it would make me weep....

:P

[alfredo]

82. Ha!!

[Shanti Mama]

88. Please share the recipe.

I'd love to try it.

[Mollis]

93. I second that

I would love to learn that recipe :)

[chatnoir]

87. Ain't that the truth

[K8-EEE]

96. DING DING DING DING!!!!!!!

Totally true!!! Thank you....when did we turn into a nation that is literally addicted to eating crap?? Eating fast food burgers is just that!

[RC]

65. Or Mad Cow.

Anyone still testing for that in our beef supply?

[alfredo]

83. Not sure. the bush junta wouldn't allow beef producers to test their own

cows, so I guess we will find out in a few years if there is going to be an epidemic. We might already be dead.

[tinkerbell41]

85. It is in it.

I regularly visit Organic Consumers Association website along with staying on top of the food industry issues. Japan had refused any shipments of american beef, because of this concern.
The biggest problem is this virus Jacob(something) I can't remember offhand lies dormant for years. By the time people start showing symptoms it's too late.
The biggest concern about this disease is the way the cattle are slaughtered, the virus lies in the spinal cord, production line is so fast paced, it ends up spilling onto the rest of the carcass.
There is some book i read detailing this, god I can't remember, years ago.

[redqueen]

101. Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. (nt)

[tinkerbell41]

104. Thanks, on the tip of my tongue.

[Kali]

107. virus? nope try again

some decent science based info here:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/bse/

Japan's refusals (they are accepting imports again, BTW) is also a trade/political issue.

[tinkerbell41]

111. And we trust that why??

I know for a fact that lobbyists and former employees of the industries we try to regulate, were put in charge. Japan was forced to accept them. If these findings make you comfortable eating factory farmed beef fine. If you read down in the article you linked to you will find it has been found in our cows.

[Kali]

112. because "we" have a basic understanding of science, logic, and I personally

have a pretty damn good understanding about the issues since I make my living raising cattle.

You, on the other hand with an obviously poor understanding of any of those (virus vs. prion for example, lack of basic math/probability function for another) are free to get your (mis)information anywhere you please.

[tinkerbell41]

117. You are correct.

I do not have a complete understanding. So, you are a cattle farmer who is not factory farming?
I also presume you accompany all of your cows to be slaughtered and supervise the process. Because one thing i do have an understanding of is human error. Reading accounts of people who worked at slaughter houses they all agree the line moves so fast you cannot help but contaminate the beef.

[Lorien]

47. I'm doing my best to get off all animal products, period. The factory farms are

an unregulated horror show. Ungodly cruelty to thinking, feeling animals, hormones, high doses of antibiotics, cows fed waste from poultry floors, waste from slaughter house floors, the creation of genetically modified animals, patented animals, cloned animals, mad cow disease,...how can any aware human being honestly want to put any of it into their own body? You can close your eyes and say "but we're meant to eat meat! It's good for us!" if you REALLY know what's in it? I guess the same way some smokers can keep smoking after all the studies and GOP donations. Denial. I can't afford health care, therefore I can't afford to eat animal products anymore. Even dairy products are a big concern. I'd like to move out to the country to grow my own food from organic seed. Maybe keep a few chickens for eggs. That's it. The USDA is hellbent on profits at ANY, and I mean ANY cost!

[dana_b]

50. I'm with ya

I still eat dairy and eggs from certain farms that advertise grass fed animals who don't stand in their own waste all day. It would be good to get off of it though. Cheaper and probably better for me. Also are they REALLY grass fed, happy animals or does that just sound good on a carton? I don't know.

We actually have room for a small garden and want to get that going next year. There's also an old chicken coop but no chickens. Our neighbors have them as well as a rooster that is awake every morning before dawn. Doesn't bother me in the least! :)

[Kali]

56. I think you are a bit missinformed.

You are jamming all kinds of things into a mythological phenomenon that just barely has any basis in reality.

[flvegan]

52. Can't blame you.

Your body will likely thank you for it as well.

[roody]

59. I have spent 35 years without eating meat.

[RC]

67. I've spent 35 minutes. So what?

[G_j]

60. anyone want to lose weight?

it is proven that a low fat, vegetarian diet works better than any other diet.

[Thickasabrick]

62. What do you do about that vitamin that you are suppose to have

when you don't eat meat? Do you take shots? Is it B-12 - I can't remember.

[G_j]

64. B-12, Omega-3 oils are something to be aware of missing

they can be taken in supplements.
Also got to make sure you get enough protein.
Sunshine is always good for vitamin D.

[flvegan]

66. B12 is found in eggs and dairy.

Not a concern for vegetarians. Vegans just have to mind their diet to be sure to include some, or take a vitamin. Not really a big deal.

[sweetroxie]

73. I hate to disagree, but

There is no conclusive evidence about what diet works best. People are all different. I was vegetarian for 30 years and I gained about 60 lbs during that time. I had to eat so much high carb. food-- even whole, complex carbs-- to get enough protein that I became diabetic. Now I eat a very low carb diet and am no longer vegetarian. I'm really sorry to have to eat more animal foods because I love animals, but I had 30 years of proof that that kind of diet wasn't good for me. Listen to your own body. Choose your foods with consciousness. Be grateful for the animals-- fish, chickens-- that gave their lives so we can eat. If your body does well on a total veg. or near-veg. diet, then go for it. But it's all very individual. By the way, since I gave up the veg/carb focus, I've effortlessly lost over 30 lbs. and look forward to more.

[G_j]

77. thank you for your answer

I was speaking from what I gleaned from an article I recently read, but now, I can't find it.
I agree everyone is different. I have a friend who is an experienced macrobiotic cook, and teacher.
She recently started eating meat a few times a week, because she needs it.
I was vegetarian for about 25 years. Now I eat some organic meat, when possible.

[Ignis]

108. Have you read _The China Study_?

Humans show a tremendous range of variations, but overall, a low-fat veggie diet appears to be the magic bullet.

[truedelphi]

68. Us beef eaters should all move to France, where they carefully

Inspect their animals before slaughter.

And in France, no weird Bank Giveaways that allow the inner crowd of investors to bid up price of grain and bid down price of milk - which has forced thousands of small dairy family farms into giving up. (100,000 cows slaughtered just in three counties in June and July and early August.)

[Jennicut]

71. Well, there goes the no carb all meat diet for diabetics someone was advocating earlier

I am left with nothing to eat, really.

Maybe lettuce and celery. The carbs in that is low, right?

I can't stand red meat anyway.

[Thickasabrick]

76. LOL...I am a big fan of low carb. Quiche is my friend...with mushrooms

Just no crust!!

[Jennicut]

78. It was a zero carb diet that was being talked about.. No eggs, not veggies....just meat.

I love dairy and veggies, but eat all day every day....ick!

[Thickasabrick]

80. Eating below 20 carbs a day is dangerous - eggs have less than 1 carb

in them, (0.80 to be exact). I can't believe people would advocate a low carb diet without utilizing the amazing egg. When I low carb, I start at 20 for a week, then up it to 5 every week after till I reach about 45. I have this great recipe for flax muffins - flax is amazing stuff and because it is so high in fiber, the carbs are negated. I can lose about 14 pounds a month this way if I still watch the calories somewhat.

[Jennicut]

81. I have been eating lower carb beating a diabetic but below 20 carbs a day makes

me want to pass out. No energy. And one can only eat steak so many times.

[tammywammy]

92. Are you willing to share your muffin recipe? Sounds interesting

I'd like to give it a try. :)

[BlooInBloo]

72. I hope more people quit eating meat - will make it cheaper for me to buy.

[anonymous171]

74. This is what happens when Agencies are run by appointees

If his department was directly responsible to the people, I doubt he or the rest of the Agency would care much about what the industry thought.

[Matariki]

86. You can get ecoli from fruits and vegetables just as well

remember the spinach recall? The Odwalla juice recall?

[Kievan Rus]

89. I haven't eaten ground beef since I read "Fast Food Nation" two years ago

I still eat steak and prime rib, but I'm never eating ground beef again after reading that classic. Most of my protein these days comes from fish (which tastes better anyways).

The line in that book that really stuck with me is "there's shit in the meat."

Furthermore, I've heard rumors that there's more germs in ground beef than there is in the average household toilet. Does anybody know if that's true or it's just an urban legend?

[Mollis]

95. I read that a few years ago, as well

and I haven't eaten fast food since. I also became vegetarian, but that was much more recent.

[MindPilot]

103. Actually I think the truth is you are likely to find the same germs on your desk at work

as you will on your toilet seat at home. I believe Mythbusters took a look at that one.

[niyad]

90. don't eat beef anyway, don't eat at fast food joints--and, having read "fast food nation"

years ago, very glad I don't. and the situation just keeps getting worse and worse. it seems that our entire food supply is in danger.

watching a repeat of michaal pollan's "deep agriculture" on link-- points out that in the 60's--health care costs were about 5% of income, and food about 18%. now health care at 18% and food around 9%. cheap food, like wal-mart, has seriously hidden costs.

[Toucano]

91. No, Dr. Petersen. Your office exists to regulate the safety of food and drugs.

The impact of regulation on the industry is not your concern. Not one iota.

How they adapt and comply with the regulations is their problem entirely.

[depakid]

94. This person should be fired- plain and simple.

[Enrique]

98. this is why we need unions

The article doesn't say, but I'm assuming these workers are not in a union.

This is the kind of thing that unions prevent. Bosses do all kinds of things to "increase the pressure on workers", and a lot of these things those bosses wouldn't try if the union was there. It shows that the benefits of unions are not just to the workers, it's to the general public as well.

Two current employees said the flow of carcasses keeps up its torrid pace even when trimmers get reassigned, which increases pressure on workers. To protest one such episode, the employees said, dozens of workers walked off the job for a few hours earlier this year. Last year, workers sued Greater Omaha, alleging that they were not paid for the time they need to clean contaminants off their knives and other gear before and after their shifts. The company is contesting the lawsuit.

[Nye Bevan]

99. Hamburgers should *only* ever be eaten *well done*

It's OK to eat *steak* medium or rare, as pathogens cannot get to the middle of a piece of steak. But the middle of a hamburger can contain any kind of crap. I *cringe* when I see people serving medium or rare hamburgers. Proper cooking will kill E Coli even in contaminated beef.

[MNDemNY]

100. COOK your fuckin' burgers!!!!

[B3Nut]

105. Prefab frozen patties from Sam's Club

a Wal-Mart outfit. Quelle surprise!! Commercial frozen burger patties suck, they always have. You couldn't pay me to eat that shit. The independent grocers by me have exponentially better hamburger than these cheapskate chains. Locally raised, and not much more expensive.

That poor woman...someone needs to go to prison for life over this.

[lapislzi]

113. I've never purchased frozen patties

The article said the patties cost about $1/lb to produce...what are they sold for?

[Kali]

106. and yet, beef didn't even make the top ten

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=222x71105

[Krakowiak]

109. No more beef for me

Not worth it.

Thanks for the article.

[EnviroBat]

110. My neighbor hunts deer, and every season he bags three of them.

He has the meat processed and freezes it. I stopped by to visit him yesterday, and he gave me a medallion of venison that he'd been cooking in a crock pot for about ten hours. It was heavenly to say the least, more tender than any fillet mignon I've ever had. It was succulent and the flavor was wonderful.

This got me thinking that deer isn't tainted by steroids and anti-biotics. It isn't over-crowded, and tortured for it's entire life. It's as "free-range" as free-range can get. I can't bring myself to hunt animals, I've tried it and just never had the stomach for it. But I know many people that hunt, and even some of them will not kill a deer if it looks at them. I will say that I'm glad to know these guys, and I can stock my freezer with deer-meat for an entire year for about $150.00. As for cattle, I'm off of that. I'm convinced it's one of the main causes of cancer in people. I can't stand it. At least with a deer, I know it didn't die a horrible torturous death in a meat packing plant at the hands of a callous, under-paid worker who has 0 regard for living things.

[Arugula Latte]

114. Even when I was a kid and still ate red meat I thought ground beef was absolutely disgusting.

Everything about it is repulsive -- it's smell, taste, texture. x(

[deaniac21]

115. Damn, I'm really hungry now!

[Blue_Tires]

116. ttt