Ground beef's saturated fat can contribute to heart disease, and the bacteria it sometimes
harbors can sicken or kill someone who eats beef that is not cooked thoroughly.
In July of 2002, the presence of the bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli)
O157:H7 in ground beef packed by ConAgra Foods prompted the second-largest
meat recall in U.S. history. Thirty-eight people in 12 states became ill; six of the
victims developed life=threatening complications; one died.
Ground beef is harder to keep safe than steaks or roasts because any contamination
is mixed into the meat rather than staying on the surface, where it's more easily
killed by cooking.
There is also concern about the use of antibiotics and hormones
to promote growth in cattle; concern, too, about pollution from feedlots, and about the
possibility that mad-cow disease could emigrate from Europe or Japan to the
U.S.
If you choose to eat ground beef, you deserve that it be clean, fresh, and labeled
correctly. We bought 198 samples of raw ground beef from supermarkets in 9 states
and tested them for fecal bacteria, spoilage, and fat content. We studied how beef is
produced to see where contaminants can creep in (see the
Danger page). We examined other issues related to beef, such as the environmental
effects of raising cattle. And we compared the taste of steaks from cattle raised
on grass with that of steaks from cattle raised on standard feed, mostly corn
(see the Grass Fed page). We haven't forgotten vegetarians:
On the Veggie Burgers page we report on our taste tests of
veggie burgers, including Burger King's new offering.
Highlights of our findings:
*Although most samples of ground beef were reasonably clean and fresh, 1 percent
had substantial levels of fecal bacteria, and about 4 percent were on the brink
of spoilage.
*Gaps in the food safety net put consumers at unacceptably high risk from
E.coli O157:H7.
*The ground beef we bought in an increasingly available form called "case ready"
(packaged in the plant) tended to be slightly fresher than beef packaged the usual way,
in the supermarket.
*Grass-fed beef is sometimes advertised as especially tasty, but in our small test,
steaks described as grass-fed didn't taste much different from regular steaks.
*Five veggie burgers tasted very good, and two even did a decent beef imitation.
*Government actions have significantly reduced the likelihood that mad-cow disease
will break out in the U.S., but more is needed to correct lax enforcement and a critical
loophole in the law.
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