More than half of ground turkey samples are contaminated with fecal bacteria, according to a new study from Consumer Reports. In addition, the magazine found that more than 90 percent of the ground turkey samples it tested contained at least one of the five bacteria the test was looking for -- salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, enterococcus and campylobacter (though no campylobacter was found). The test covered 257 retail samples from 21 states and 27 different brands, all purchased in retail stores.
Sixty-nine percent of the ground turkey samples tested by Consumer Reports contained enterococcus, and 60 percent harbored E. coli -- both of which are associated with fecal contamination. Some of the bacteria found in the tested samples can cause food poisoning, as well as urinary, bloodstream and other infections.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/3 ... ostpopular
Ground Turkey
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Unfortunately, that's business as usual with the poultry processing industry. Processed poultry has traditionally been plagued by similar issues for as long as I can remember, mostly because in order to cut costs and use "green" methods, the meat is washed by sloshing it around in a common bath of contaminated water treated with disinfectants, rather than washing each bird with fresh water.
Anyone who wants uncontaminated poultry has to process it him/herself, because uncontaminated poultry doesn't exist in the commercial market (IMO). But then, that's one of the reasons why humans have evolved with a sophisticated immune system, so that we can handle such issues without it becoming a major problem. Our paleo ancestors surely had to deal with contaminated food and "out-of-condition" food on a regular basis.
That said, I agree that the poultry processing industry needs to clean up it's act, but it is only likely to do what USDA guidelines require (since doing more costs money), so the responsibility for change also rests with the policymakers at USDA.
Tex
Anyone who wants uncontaminated poultry has to process it him/herself, because uncontaminated poultry doesn't exist in the commercial market (IMO). But then, that's one of the reasons why humans have evolved with a sophisticated immune system, so that we can handle such issues without it becoming a major problem. Our paleo ancestors surely had to deal with contaminated food and "out-of-condition" food on a regular basis.
That said, I agree that the poultry processing industry needs to clean up it's act, but it is only likely to do what USDA guidelines require (since doing more costs money), so the responsibility for change also rests with the policymakers at USDA.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
