E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection

New York Times ^ | October 4, 2009 | Michael Moss

[nickcarraway]

Stephanie Smith, a children’s dance instructor, thought she had a stomach virus. The aches and cramping were tolerable that first day, and she finished her classes.

Then her diarrhea turned bloody. Her kidneys shut down. Seizures knocked her unconscious. The convulsions grew so relentless that doctors had to put her in a coma for nine weeks. When she emerged, she could no longer walk. The affliction had ravaged her nervous system and left her paralyzed.

Ms. Smith, 22, was found to have a severe form of food-borne illness caused by E. coli, which Minnesota officials traced to the hamburger that her mother had grilled for their Sunday dinner in early fall 2007.

“I ask myself every day, ‘Why me?’ and ‘Why from a hamburger?’ ”Ms. Smith said. In the simplest terms, she ran out of luck in a food-safety game of chance whose rules and risks are not widely known.

Meat companies and grocers have been barred from selling ground beef tainted by the virulent strain of E. coli known as O157:H7 since 1994, after an outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants left four children dead. Yet tens of thousands of people are still sickened annually by this pathogen, federal health officials estimate, with hamburger being the biggest culprit. Ground beef has been blamed for 16 outbreaks in the last three years alone, including the one that left Ms. Smith paralyzed from the waist down. This summer, contamination led to the recall of beef from nearly 3,000 grocers in 41 states.

Ms. Smith’s reaction to the virulent strain of E. coli was extreme, but tracing the story of her burger, through interviews and government and corporate records obtained by The New York Times,

[Orange1998]

This is terrible. Watching the video tells the whole story. I pray she gets better.

[rawhide]

Food scientists have registered increasing concern about the virulence of this pathogen since only a few stray cells can make someone sick, and they warn that federal guidance to cook meat thoroughly and to wash up afterward is not sufficient. A test by The Times found that the safe handling instructions are not enough to prevent the bacteria from spreading in the kitchen.

Scary when you think about it.

[atomic_dog]

Hooray for Costco, we buy our ground beef there.

[NVDave]

Two things people can do to help lessen the chances of contracting e. coli:

1. Do not buy pre-ground beef. Have your local butcher grab a sirloin or round and grind it for you locally. Or better yet, grind it yourself.

2. Don’t buy beef from major packing houses. Where possible, buy local beef, slaughtered and packed locally. The major packing houses are overrun with shoddy adherence to food safety. This is probably a tall order for most people living in urban areas, so the best thing you can do is to buy only cut beef, never ground beef.

Ground beef from major packing houses is literally the very bottom of the barrel in food safety.

If one does buy pre-ground beef, cook it until very well done. Like 180F or higher. I like my steaks medium rare, but if I’m in a situation where I have to eat ground meat of unknown origin, I always go for the “nuke it until it glows” state of done-ness.

[chris37]

I’m going to be buying sirloins from the local butcher where I already get my rib eyes and filets, and then I’m going to grind them myself.

Thanks for posting this article, seriously. What a scary situation, and I really feel for this poor lady.

[chuckles]

Just cook the meat. Don’t ask for rare meat of any kind. E Coli will die if the meat isn’t red in the middle. You don’t have to burn it black, but don’t eat raw meat. 80% of eggs are said to have salmonella now. Don’t lick the spoon after brownies are mixed. These are simple rules that will keep you safe.

[Carlos Martillo II]

After seeing who was working in the plants in the midwest during the immigration raids, I don’t know why people are surprised. We have to accept that it is now a 3rd world country we live, and have to act accordingly. When Europe had problems with mad cow and hoof-and-mouth diseases, they turned to the one meat they trusted (seriously) for cleanliness: Hormel Spam.

[perfect stranger]

“80% of eggs are said to have salmonella now.”

Hmmmm...OK. Who said?

[srmorton]

The reason hamburger is such a problem is because what was once on the outside of the meat ends up inside the meat. Going to the trouble and expense of buying a cut of meat and having it ground by the butcher will not solve the problem if the meat is already contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7. What was on the outside of the meat will still end up on the inside. The answer is to NEVER EAT PINK HAMBURGER!!

Although I do not eat rare beef of any kind since I teach Parasitology as well as Microbiology, you will not contract E. coli from rare steak because cooking the outside of the meat will kill the organism, as well as any other surface bacteria. It would not kill a parasite like the beef tapeworm Taenia sagginata because it is actually embedded throughout the muscle, not just on the surface.

[Hardastarboard]

That comment just kind of ruined my week, maybe month. Will freezing the beef kill beef tape worms?

[chuckles]

....."Hmmmm...OK. Who said?"......

Fox News said about 3-4 years ago in a report on people getting sick from food. They also reported that we should be afraid that the gubmint wasn't inspecting nearly enough of our food. Chickens and eggs seem to have the most problems. They tested fish for heavy metals and beef for e coli. Testing fish is almost never done. They may take one sample from tons of fish.

Just as shown in the piece from the NYT, beef is tested, but has gaping holes for e coli to get in the finished product. The Fox piece took several samples of eggs to be tested and they reported that as many as 80% in some batches were contaminated with salmonella.

Would you feel better if it were 50%?.....30%?

I used to be against irradiated food, but am not so sure now. We are working on a luck system now. "Trust me, I'm from the government", just doesn't give me warm fuzzies right now. Kinda like, "Trust me, I'm from ACORN and will inspect your food".

[srmorton]

Fortunately, the beef tapeworm is rare in the US and the meat is inspected for it as well. It’s just that, if you teach parasitology, you do not really want to eat anything that is not thoroughly cooked, although I will occasionally eat steak that is a little pink. Freezing would not necessarily kill the parasite but would slow down its growth and reproduction.

[robo1235]

Since it is obvious that the meat packing industry is only interested in their profits at the expense of food safety and quality, we as consumers need to lean on the major customers of ground beef to bring about reforms. I see the major customers as the fast-food chains; therefore effort should be directed in demanding that the fast-food chains, as part of their corporate responsibility, require that the meat packing industry reform.

As Yogi Berra said, “It’s deja vu all over again” Those who know their history will recall that the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 came about because of unsanitary practices in the slaughter houses and it’s exposure in Sinclair Lewis’s “The Jungle.” Now we are seeing a 21st century version of the same problem.

[redgolum]

The problem is that in the race to the bottom, costs have to be cut.

In the US, it has been on quality. My father in law used to raise cattle for the family, and now that he quit I have to find a local guy to buy a half cow from. I won’t eat meat from a big box store.