SUPERMARKETGURU FOOD &
HEALTH WEEKLY NEWSFLASH!
How would you like your burger? Rare, medium, or well-done?
Published on: November 21, 2007
If you answered anything but well-done, you better keep reading.
With the recent outbreaks of E.coli in the news and food recalls happening with alarming regularity it would appear that the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is looking out for the consumer, avidly protecting them from food products that have any kind of pathogenic contamination. The Chicago Tribune published a story on November 11th that shared a loophole that has raised a lot of questions.
The Department of Agriculture allows the meat industry to actually sell meat that has been found to contain the virulent strain of E.coli 0157:H7. This is allowed by grading the meat as “cook only” – indicating that the product will be used only by cooking meat to a temperature above 160 degrees to destroy the bacteria, and therefore making it safe to eat. Topline? Meat that tests positive for E.coli is not destroyed; merely re-labeled and subsequently used for precooked products such as burgers, meatloaf and crumbled taco meat.
This practice, according to the newspaper, is allowing producers to maintain packing plants where E.coli is present in one area, surely raising the odds of it contaminating another.
The USDA has made claims that instances of E.coli have been reduced by 50 percent, but the disclosure of this practice suggests more that a game of smoke and mirrors has taken place than any real progress. And on top of this report, lets remember that this year to date we have had 17 E. coli related product recalls.
What must you do to protect yourself and your family from contaminated meat, especially children and seniors who are more vulnerable to the serious, occasionally life-threatening effects of this unpleasant illness?
Cook all ground beef and burgers thoroughly. Because ground beef can turn brown before disease-causing bacteria are killed, use a digital instant-read meat thermometer to ensure thorough cooking. Ground beef should be cooked until a thermometer inserted into several parts of the patty, including the thickest part, reads at least 160º F. Without a thermometer decrease the risk of illness by not eating ground beef patties that are still pink in the middle.
If you are served an undercooked burger or other ground beef product in a restaurant, send it back for further cooking. Be sure to ask for a new bun, toppings and a clean plate, as well, the E. coli could still live on the other foods and plate.
Other prepared foods that contain ground beef, including pizza, frozen meals, and sandwiches should also be cooked thoroughly and following the directions on the package, just in case the “cook-only” product was used as an ingredient.
And at home, avoid spreading harmful bacteria in your kitchen. Keep raw meat separate from ready-to-eat foods. Wash hands, counters, and utensils with hot soapy water after they touch raw meat. Never place cooked burgers or ground beef on the unwashed plate that held raw patties. Wash meat thermometers in between tests of patties that require further cooking.
The important thing is for us to take responsibility into our own hands, and not to feel a false sense of security from the headlines of the government’s reports of improvement …especially when a loophole like this exists.
