Beef industry gets a closer look as story of paralyzed woman hits the press
Filed under: Company News, People
Food safety expert Dr. Jeffrey Bender says mildly, "ground beef is not a completely safe product." The understatement is not lost on The New York Times, whose hugely popular, endlessly retweeted and emailed article on ground beef safety Sunday points out the "restrained" enforcement of safety procedures by the USDA. The article tells the story of children's dance instructor Stephanie Smith, who was paralyzed after eating tainted beef at a Sunday dinner with her family in September 2007. Smith, 22, was taken to the hospital five days after the family dinner, "in excruciating pain" that a doctor described as worse than childbirth. (Smith wouldn't know; she hadn't yet started a family of her own.)
Smith was having so many seizures that doctors had to put her in a coma and fly her to the Mayo Clinic, where her mother worried she wouldn't live out the year. Scientists ended up tying 11 cases in Minnesota to hamburgers manufactured by Cargill and marketed as American Chef's Selection Angus Beef Patties. Four of the 11 sickened developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition which can affect kidney function. In the worst cases, the colon wall is penetrated, impacting blood vessels and causing clots that can lead to seizures. This is what happened to Smith, and her coma lasted nine weeks. When she woke up, she couldn't walk. Her doctors say she'll probably never walk again.
After the E. coli outbreak that sickened Smith, the USDA did spot checks at 224 plants, only to discover that nearly a quarter of them had "serious safety problems" -- they weren't even following the safety plans the plants themselves devised. The USDA allows this, as well as allowing grinders to decide whether they want to test for harmful bacteria before or after grinding beef; beef suppliers prefer having the meat tested after it's ground and combined with other companies' beef, since it keeps their exposure to recalls low.
The reaction of consumers reading the article has not been mild. Among my friends and social media contacts, those who read the long and sordid tale of the lax food safety bureaucracy and the tangled weave of questionable meat that goes into our hamburgers swore off the stuff for good. Those of us who've long chosen only meat from very small, sustainably-managed ranchers are wiping our brows in relief.
Not only is this the old story of enormous slaughterhouses where overworked, underpaid employees are the only defense against cross-contamination of the meat by feces, and the ingredients are so cheap that quality cannot possibly be expected; but there are new little shockers throughout the story. Ammonia masks the presence of E. coli, so is often used to treat cow trimmings from the outside of the animal, those more likely to be contaminated. Bread crumbs and spices are added to patties -- even though the ingredients list only "beef." "Using metal detectors, [Cargill] workers snagged stray nails and metal hooks that could damage the grinders, then warned suppliers to make sure it did not happen again," Michael Moss, the Times reporter, writes. (Oh good! They are protecting their grinders! Consumers will be so happy.)
The USDA has responded by reminding consumers to use "safe handling" procedures when cooking hamburger, and yes, not following these rules could have contributed to Smith's paralysis; but even scientists find it difficult to avoid contamination with such a virulent strain of E. coli as the one from 2007. Cooking hamburgers to 160 degrees and washing counters with bleach wouldn't save, for instance, a few cells that dripped onto the side of the sink or the corner of an apron. And those few cells are enough to make you sick.
At least three different slaughterhouses and a separate beef processor supplied the meat that went into Smith's family's hamburgers, and despite many investigations neither the USDA nor Cargill has ever determined which supplier was responsible for the contamination. In my opinion and that of a vast number of consumers who've read this article, it's obvious that sickness is not the result of bad home cooks who can't handle their meat; it's the necessary and evil result of a factory meat system that is ill-regulated and designed in a way that breeds disease.
It's complicated to explain why this is. Looking at a photo of a feedlot, where cows are kept in extremely close quarters for the few months' fattening before slaughter, fed antibiotics and stomping in one another's excrement until they're eventually, messily, killed, skinned and chopped up for delivery to one of hundreds of independent grinders may explain a bit of it. More important is the realization that washing your hands and using a meat thermometer won't fix this: only a wholesale redesign of our meat industry will.
Stephanie Smith's mother, home cooks across America: this is not your fault. You're the ones paying, though. And for that, I, for one, am very sorry.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 27)
10-11-2009 @ 6:05PM
sheila cunningham said...
the more i read about the meat packing industry, the more i am becoming a non meat eater...it sickens me to see how the cattle are handled and then what happens to the meat ..there should be some laws that stop that sort of thing when a young girl is not going to walk again because of eating a hamburger...we have gotten too big in the industry and no one seems to care...including the industry, Cargill ,itself..It might cost more, but we need more protections for the consumer...
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10-07-2009 @ 8:25AM
Anthony said...
Maybe someone should design a bag that fits over the cow's buttocks to catch the feces. these can be designed low cost, like the barf bags that fit around your face in the ER. Someone can walk around with rubber gloves and a resp. mask changing the butt bags as they get full.
10-07-2009 @ 8:52AM
Pat said...
It is a travisty that the meat packers and the government can cry it cost too much to test meat at every stage. All they have to do is to send trimmings through the test area or make a new one which requires little cost and effort. It's all about money and this Idea is ruining American and has been for 30 years. We out source so much industry and import food products from 3rd world countries with no regulation. And all you good Americans with your foreign cars don't help much too. The government and big business in America need to make a few changes and start doing things with conscience and dignity. Maybe if our government contained 50% blue collar people our country wouldn't have these issues. Wake up America we are losing our country more and more by the day and big business and government only pretend to care because it doesn't effect them. We should make our president and all of Congress eat raw hamburger from the meat packer of our choice to prove they believe it is really safe. They would be sweating bullets and crying for their mothers!
10-07-2009 @ 10:17AM
Randy said...
Looking to your local farmers and ranchers can be a safe and inexpensive way to get quality beef that is only pasture raised and never sent to a feed lot. Their cattle are treated very well and fed only grass. A great example of this is Burnett Ranch in Colorado. www.burnettranch.com
10-07-2009 @ 1:02PM
Maria said...
start eating organic, I did & now conventional stuff...ALL OF IT! tastes foul, dead even...it's disgusting
10-07-2009 @ 11:35AM
Jag said...
Not eating meat won't completely protect you or did you forget the E Coli outbreak in lettuce and other vegetables over the past several years? This all under GW Bush's watch over the FDA where he was sooooooooo big on "voluntary" controls over big business. You know what voluntary means to big business? It means forgetaboutit!
10-07-2009 @ 1:07PM
Nate said...
You shouldn't eat meat. Big meat consumers also have a higher rate of colon cancer because of a compound nitrosamines naturally found in meat.
Most of the meat you eat comes from South America and Japan anyways
Meat in this country is grown in a disgusting manner. Too bad we can't do like most of Europe.
Meat industry is also the biggest polluters in the world. If you stop eating meat for any reason, do it for the environment.
There is tons of unbiased, scientific literature to support this if you look for it.
10-07-2009 @ 1:23PM
Scott said...
Clearly you haven't been paying attention the last few years with all the food scares. It's not just meat. There was the spinach recall, peanut butter, tomatoes and jalapenos. I think these are much scarier than the meat since these foods are less likely to be cooked.
10-07-2009 @ 1:56PM
nicole said...
OMG!!! I WILL NEVEREAT MEAT AGAIN
I HAVE BEEN GIVEN MY DOG HAMBURGER FOR WEEKS NOW AD SHE REALLY WONT EAT IT
IAM NERVOUS AND CALLIN THE VET TODAY
I CANT BELIEVE WE TH USA ARE DEALING WITH THIS ISSUE AGAIN
IM BECOMING A VEGAN ENOUGH ALREADY
THANKS
10-07-2009 @ 2:03PM
Gwen said...
You are so right...we went vegetarian two years ago and it's the best thing we EVER did! Our grocery bill is cut in half, and we feel safe eating locally grown foods!
In response to your post, "Jag" said..."Not eating meat won't completely protect you or did you forget the E Coli outbreak in lettuce and other vegetables over the past several years?..."
Yes, BUT I would respond to him by saying that happened because it was mass produced & processed. So, why not eat locally grown produce in season...it's MUCH safer and leaves a smaller carbon foot print...no traveling long distances in refrigerated trucks! So, why not supporting Community Supported Agriculture is the best way to go, IF you can't grow your own. We do BOTH! Whooo-hooo!
10-05-2009 @ 11:03PM
jerry lee said...
I guess Tyson is now going to be allowed to buy of the inspectors of the beef industry, glad it doesn't cut it with COSTCO who won't buy their sub standard quality product, must be why my hamburger from COSTCO tastes so good.
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10-07-2009 @ 12:56PM
Heidi said...
Think I will be shopping at costco again. lol, better renew that card of mine. This is a very disturbing article, jeash everything we serve our kids these days is tainted.
10-07-2009 @ 1:13PM
Melissa said...
Costco probably taste "so good," because of all the chemicals and additives added to it to make you addicted to it. Nice! You'll live a long life.
10-06-2009 @ 5:31AM
CGlass said...
It's the ENTIRE meat industry. I ran a business in the deep south down the street from a major chicken processing plant once closed by EPA for roof leak contamination. If you think what you do - or manage - for a living is difficult... think again. The propensity for many forms of meat contamination begins at incubation and ends in your digestive tract. It's a choice, but know the glistening package of meat at your grocer has a long history.
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10-07-2009 @ 9:50AM
mark said...
BEEF ITS WHATS FOR DINNER> UM GOOD!!!
10-13-2009 @ 10:55AM
cheyenne said...
I know for a fact that you can't always trust the hometown butcher either. I just moved from a town that wouldn't do anything with my reports of a man that was selling his diseased cattle to one of the local meatpackers. I went through all channels, but because he was one of the good ole boys, (as were all of the ones in power) nothing got done. I even picked up a piece of diseased flesh from a young heifer. It had literally fallen apart from her infected hip area that had been swollen to the size of three basketballs for more than 6 months. I showed it to local vets, humane society and the department of ag. All were very upset, but alas, no action was taken and the owner wound up selling her to one of the local butchers. And they sell that meat to an unsuspecting public. It just goes to show.....It's all who you know and how much money is involved. FYI ; I documented the the decline of above heifer with my camera also. And there were other cases as well that went uninvestigated. So public.....BEWARE
10-07-2009 @ 1:08PM
thnkugal said...
Agricultural Russian Roulette, anyone?????
10-06-2009 @ 6:59AM
Chuck said...
Was this American beef? American farmers sign a paper that their cows are not fed or given substances that are in foreign beef. But companies purchase foreign beef and sell it to our countries hamburger joints.
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10-07-2009 @ 8:29AM
peggy said...
I hope you are not referring to Canadian meat when you speak of "foreign". The Canadian standards are higher than the US standards.
The patriotism in the US blinds many Americans from seeing the truth. The US is not always the best.
10-08-2009 @ 8:14AM
Merle T Cornpone said...
As is the case with many issues, the quest for profit blinds producers, consumers, and legislators. Farm lobbies are very strong. Monsanto is able to keep most of their seeds from being tested for GMO problems and control the market with their genetically modified seed without proving it is safe.
Producing foodstuff for the "global market" is not a plan for improving food, it is a plan for making more profit.
The blogger who mentioned Canadian standards for beef are higher than US standards for beef is correct. USDA is not served in Canada and it is considered poor quality meat filled with steroids.
DDT is still legal in Chilie, from where much of our vegetables for winter are imported.
If you actually knew what's in your food, you would produce your own.