Is anyone else here scared of the low quality of US beef?

[Juan]

The US has extremely low beef standards compared to the rest of the world, and it scares me. We very rarely test our meat for contaminants. The USDA and FDA lack the authority to require the testing of meat, and also lack the power to recall meat. They can suggest a recall to the meat producers, but it is only a suggestion. If an unsafe toy is killing kids, the government can recall it. If unsafe meat is killing kids, the government CAN NOT recall it. I don't know about you, but I intuitively believe that there should be higher safety standards for what goes into your body, than what stays outside of your body.

ConAgra, one of the 2 major beef packing companies in the US, just finally recalled 19 million pounds of ground beef. They had been sending out bad beef (E. Coli) for 3 months before they recalled it. They initially only recalled 354,000 pounds, claiming that it was the only contaminated meat. Then, even after the recall, people kept getting sick, so they expanded the recall.

Did they find out the beef was contaminated through lab tests? NO. People had to become deathly sick with E. Coli before a recall occured. I don't know how much safer chicken is, but I'm going to be sticking to it for a while.

I'm done ranting.

[Alex.V]

No. And I've gotten E. coli. It's not gonna change. Just cook your damn beef.

[Behemoth]

I'm scared of undercooked beef, just as I am chicken or eggs.

[Blood&Iron]

I think all the beef in the US is infected with Mad Cow Disease, and half the populace is infected with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease(the human variant of Mad Cow). It would go a long way to expaining things if half the population has little corkscrews eating out their brains. I'm still trying to figure out what explains the other 50%.

E. coli I could give a sh*t about.

[Goin_Big]

I know people that eat the **** raw, they've never had a problem.

on second thought.....they are all a lil strange....

either way, beef is good, eat your beef!

[Scooby-Doo]

If you cook it enough you wont have to worry.

[Blood&Iron]

Originally posted by Scooby-Doo
If you cook it enough you wont have to worry.

Except no amount of cooking kills Mad Cow disease. Nor does irradiation. Or anything for that matter. It is not a virus. Nor is it a bacterium. It is a prion, about which scientists know basically f*ck all.

[Goin_Big]

WHO YOU CALLIN A PRION, YOU F'IN PRION?

What's a prion?

[Juan]

So, a few of you are taking the argument "I've never gotten E. Coli, so I'm not worried about it". I've never gotten herpes, syphalis, or any STD, but I still worry about them! All it takes is coming into contact with tainted beef once, and you can die.

When I cook my own meat, it is cooked all the way through. A large percentage of the population likes rare and medium rare beef. Both conditions allow E. Coli to live. Testing beef for E. Coli would raise the price $.10 per pound (It only costs Jack 'N the Box $.01 more per pound, so my estimate is generous). That's a price I'm willing to pay. Hell, I could feel safe eating beef again.

The Polish girl I've been dating doesn't eat American beef because it is not tested enough.

Say what you will, 15 people needlessly have E. Coli because the U.S. refuses to test it's beef, which Europe does. If people die, they died because the government refused to raise beef prices a mere $.10 per pound.

[Tryska]

<~~~~~~ is scared to death by the meat industry.

[Goin_Big]

If you don't wanna eat beef, don't eat it, but you really aren't gonna talk a bunch of guys into quitting their beef eating habits.

[Blood&Iron]

Originally posted by Juan
So, a few of you are taking the argument "I've never gotten E. Coli, so I'm not worried about it". I've never gotten herpes, syphalis, or any STD, but I still worry about them! All it takes is coming into contact with tainted beef once, and you can die.

Yes, this is true, if you're a child, elderly, or have a compromised immune system. For an adult, it is incredibly unlikely. That said, I'd pay the extra money for testing. But again, getting sick, even if it was deathly ill, is not a big concern to me, particularly if all one needs to do is cook the meat thoroughly. Seems simple enough to me. I do avoid beef--although occasionally I'll have some--but not because of this. It's for the reason stated above. Paranoid, yes. But, I think, not entirely unfounded given the admittedly shoddy inspection of meat facilities in the US. What I find amazing is that many people think Mad Cow couldn't happen here, because 'We have laws against that.' One need only look at the recent recall to see that where there's profit, there will be shortcuts.

[Blood&Iron]

Originally posted by Goin_Big
WHO YOU CALLIN A PRION, YOU F'IN PRION?

What's a prion?

http://www.msnbc.com/news/439861.asp?cp1=1

[K-Daddy]

While it's true that you can't get rid of Mad Cow Disease by ordinary means (if any at all), you don't have to worry about E. Coli unless you're eating the stuff raw or rare. As long as the internal temperature (the temperature of the center of the meat, not necessarily throughout...the temperature of the meat is obviously going to be higher as you get toward the surface) is at 160 degrees (fahrenheit), you have nothing to worry about in dealing with E. Coli. Usually medium well to well will get rid of this. Anything below that is cause for concern, especially with rare and medium rare.

-Justin

[Tryska]

well my fear of the industry doesn't stop me from eating meat...it just makes me more conscientout of where i get m beef from and how i cook it.

i prefer free-ranfe, hormone free meat from locally raised animals.

i can get that with chicken, unfortunately the free-range beef coems from texas.

[polksalet]

I find it humorous to think mad cow disease can't be killed by any means. lololol

[Alex.V]

Originally posted by Juan
So, a few of you are taking the argument "I've never gotten E. Coli, so I'm not worried about it". I've never gotten herpes, syphalis, or any STD, but I still worry about them! All it takes is coming into contact with tainted beef once, and you can die.

I said the exact opposite. I HAVE gotten e. coli. And I lived. While unpleasant, it was my own damn fault for undercooking the meat. Never had problems since then, and I eat ground beef almost every day.

[Juan]

Also keep i mind that E. Coli can be transmitted by unclean humans. If someone has it and doesn't wash their hands after using the bathroom, it can be transmitted. During the last major E. Coli outbreak, almost half of those infected did not eat any tainted beef, they caught it from another human. I wish I had the exact number on that, but I lent someone the book that contains that info.

[McBain]

well maybe you should import some australian beef, i hear its much better than that crap you are currently being served

[Goin_Big]

Paranoid Schizophrenia is a very dangerous pyschological disorder

on that note, beet is our friend.

[galileo]

The first time I read this title I thought it said "Is anyone else here scared of the low quality of US beer?"

As soon as I found out you were talking about beef I stopped caring. So, I must make my own thread.

[TurboStu]

I dont' care about beef at all. I am a hunter, so I hunt deer, turkey, etc. My meat is very healthy/lean/ and not tainted with all this un natural crap!

[Juan]

Originally posted by Goin_Big
Paranoid Schizophrenia is a very dangerous pyschological disorder

on that note, beet is our friend.

Yeah, but I find it lacks the protein of meat. Besides, many of us white people have problems finding it.

The healthiest meat you can get is stuff that you have killed yourself.

I guess I'm not so much scared for my own health. I'm just kind of upset at the poor public policy decision that the US government has made in relation to beef. That's what happens when you have a strong political lobby group like the meatpacking industry I guess.

That being said, I will continue to eat chicken, since I can get it free range, with fewer hormones, for cheaper than beef. Plus I think it tastes better.

[Alex.V]

And for the last bleedin time, cow growth hormone doesn't do shite to humans. Neither do the anabolics that they're given. The amounts are miniscule, and the route of administration (oral....cooked) virtually ensures that nothing gets in.

[Juan]

First, there have been no tests on BGH in humans. There have been no long term tests on the analobolics they are given in humans either. To conclude, based on no evidence, that something is safe, is pretty trusting. I like to have proof that something isn't dangerous before I put it inside my body. Also, it makes me suspicious when the meat industry blocks legislation that would require the labelling of meat with BGH in it.

We have some of the lowest beef standards in the world. If there ever is a mad cow disease outbreak here, we are screwed, since we have very low slaughterhouse standards.

If it is virtually insured that our meat is safe, why was 19 million pounds of beef just recalled? Why did these people needlessly get E. Coli?

If you are serious about learning about E. Coli's nasty effects, here you go:
http://www.about-ecoli.com/page3.htm