Just in Time for July 4th: E. Coli Beef Outbreak

When salmonella first ruined the tomatoes, some carnivores laughed at the distraught vegetable lovers; now an E. coli outbreak has prompted a nationwide beef recall, and the only ones left to laugh are the breatharians. 530,000 pounds of beef have been pulled from supermarkets nationwide; over 40 people may have been sickened in Michigan and Ohio by contaminated beef sold by the Kroger chain. Symptoms to watch out for at tomorrow’s barbecues include stomach cramps and diarrhea.

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By John Del Signore in Food on July 3, 2008 12:11 PM

Comments [rss]

NannyState

Who came up with the "Breatharian" reference? That was totally from way way out there.

Spirit of 76

Good, old Ronnie, whose philosophy was that government should not be in the business of governing. A line still parroted by the GOP, which hates big government but never met a tax they didn't like.

cwbuecheler

and by "Regan," I mean "Reagan." :P

cwbuecheler

@legend92 -

Actually, if you want to trace it backward, you can blame Regan. He's the one who really deregulated the hell out of that and similar industries in the first place.

legend92

and you can put the blame on bush for relaxing the standards of the meat industry.

im sure those lobbyists are laughing at the carnivores that were laughing at the vegetarians.

legend92

maybe south korea was on to something when they protested their govt's agreement to begin importing american beef. and the south korean president has a lot of egg on his face now.

sidenote

I know I had a good laugh at those distraught vegetable lovers! It was a real knee-slappin' day!

Roquentin

Cooking hamburger all the way kills E-Coli. This is why you never eat a burger rare or medium rare. Just cook it all the way to well done.

Spirit of 76

Who was laughing about the apparent tomato outbreak? Maybe a few trolls, but not any reasonable hamburger consumer. Or am I misremembering that Gothamist claimed that some customers missed tomatoes on Big Macs (where they never were in the first place).

Home-ground beef is safe to eat. In fact, chopped beef (made with a big knife or cleaver) has better texture than ground beef and is my choice for hamburgers.

SP

Or refuse to buy industrial beef, and only buy grass fed.

Rocknrope

Ground beef is particularly susceptible to contamination compared to whole steaks, since surface bacteria can be ground throughout into the beef. Unfortunately, this means that the safest option is to cook hamburgers until well done.

cwbuecheler

I guess I'll eat chicken tomorrow ... oh wait, American chicken is only a small step above raw sewage.

This is what happens when you turn your enitre agriculture industry into giant assembly-lines staffed by poorly trained, terribly paid workers and run by people whose only goal is to produce as much product, as quickly as possible, without regard for safety or quality.

Goes for everything from tomatoes to beef.