American Meat Is Even Grosser Than You Thought

[Karmadillo]

http://www.alternet.org/food/146684/american_meat_is_even_grosser_than_you_thought

American Meat Is Even Grosser Than You Thought
In the focus on E. coli and salmonella, meat contaminated by heavy metals, veterinary drugs and pesticides has been slipping through the bureaucratic cracks.
May 1, 2010 |

Petitions by Change.org|Get Widget|Start a Petition » In 2008, Mexican authorities rejected a shipment of U.S. beef because the meat exceeded Mexico's regulatory tolerance for copper. The rejected meat was returned to the United States, where it was sold and consumed, because the U.S. has no regulatory threshold for copper in meat.

Incidents like this are why the food safety arm of USDA, known as the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), is under USDA scrutiny. While the public has gotten used to microbes like E. coli and salmonella threatening the nation's meat supply, and while food safety agencies make food-borne illness a high-profile priority, contamination of meat by heavy metals, veterinary drugs and pesticides has been slipping through the bureaucratic cracks.

Microbial contaminants can be killed by cooking, but chemical residues aren't destroyed by heat. In fact, some of these residues break down into more dangerous substances when heated, according to the FSIS National Residue Program for Cattle, a recent report by the USDA's Office of the Inspector General.

The report is full of bad news about the ineffectual attempts that are being made to keep chemical residues out of the food supply, but optimists might point to the report's tone as a sliver of good news. The report is sharply critical of the efforts to keep our meat free of chemical residues, and shows determination to shore up this gaping hole in food safety.

"... The national residue program is not accomplishing its mission of monitoring the food supply for harmful residues," the report says, noting that thresholds for many dangerous substances, like copper and dioxin, have yet to be established. "We also found that FSIS does not recall meat adulterated with harmful residues, even when it is aware that the meat has failed its laboratory tests."

more...

[Fridays Child]

1. Eat less beef and grass-fed, organic beef only.

I was convinced after I read Michael Pollan.

[Warpy]

4. All you have to do is drive past a "finishing lot" in the southwest

any time, but it's even worse in summer. Cattle are standing knee deep in their own waste, jammed together in small pens, nothing to do but eat and shit, their movement restricted by overcrowding so that the unnatural food they're eating is turned into unhealthy muscle fat.

If you can get organic, grass fed beef, then enjoy it. Just be aware that it is not going to be something you can introduce briefly to a grill and eat rare. Grass fed beef with low fat deposits in the muscle requires long, moist cooking.

The industry is slow to respond to customer demand, but it will respond. The more demand there is for grass fed beef, the more they will produce.

Feed lot beef, high in fat and contaminated by the waste the cattle must live in for several weeks, is unhealthy for human consumption.

[Fridays Child]

7. We have some great grass-fed, organic beef ranchers around here.

I buy from Double Check Ranch, out of Winkelman, AZ, and always get lean round roast, which I season and slow cook, then either slice or shred. Good eating!

[janx]

14. Pollan is a good writer!

I taught his essay, "Corn Sex," this semester.

But I prefer corn-fed beef when I eat it, which isn't often.

[tabasco]

2. It's hard to find good meat at a reasonable price these days.

I still eat a lot of chicken.

[slackmaster]

5. I've found that at my age I can't tolerate large servings of meat any more

So the high prices of really good meat doesn't bother me.

[Dappleganger]

16. Poultry farms are just as bad.

We were surrounded by poultry farms in VA years ago, I'll never forget how nasty those were. :(

[ensho]

3. kick

nt

[pipi_k]

6. I am sooooo glad

that I gave up beef nearly four years ago.

All beef.

Don't even miss it.

[BlooInBloo]

8. Tonight's menu: ribeye steaks, baked taters with bacon, green onion, butter, cheese, sour cream...

and some broccoli.

Oh yah - bleu cheese peppercorn sauce on the steaks.

Enjoy your cardboard, or tofu, or whatever the fuck you bourgeois veggie freaks eat.

[Rex]

10. 'bourgeois veggie freaks'

:rofl:

[Sebastian Doyle]

11. And when is your cardiologist appointment?

Or do you just plug a pressure washer into your chest to blow that shit out? :evilgrin:

[BlooInBloo]

12. Hmm. Wonder if that would work.

:P

[Lucian]

13. Tomorrow's menu: green jello and warm milk...

because you'll be in the hospital with a heart attack.

Oh, and why did you post that in this thread? It's hardly relevant to the OP.

[BlooInBloo]

15. Cool. I've never been sick in my life - this'll be a new experience for me.

And I posted because authoritarians trying to tell me what to eat deserve pushback.

I hope you enjoy whatever you freely choose to eat.

[Lucian]

20. No one is telling you what to eat.

The article is just explaining that there are a lot of toxins in our meat supply that get through inspection.

[Arkana]

23. Yeah, I don't appreciate these "SEE WHAT YOU HAVE WROUGHT" threads.

We choose what we want to eat.

[Mother Smuckers]

17. So what time is supper? I can bring along some hollandaise for the broccoli

:D

[BlooInBloo]

18. Sorry. Just me and the girl tonight....

And will likely just do a little bit of garlic on the broccoli.

Hmmm... Actually, if I make a little bit extra peppercorn sauce, that would be good on the broc too.

[Mother Smuckers]

19. Rats. Okay, and yeah that sounds good too! I think I'll have the same menu except

asparagus instead of the broc...for a change. :toast:

[yewberry]

22. Typical Bloo attack.

Proud description of your food: check.

Condemnation of others' food: check.

Expression of contempt for veg*ns: check.

Sweeping, bizarre assumption of socieconomic/class status of veg*ns: check.

Maybe you should work on some new material?

[rucky]

25. I like meat, too.

And have a vested interest in protecting its quality.

[flvegan]

9. Good article.

Thanks for posting it. I hope everyone reads it.

on edit: after reading a post above, I figured I should add this

[Karmadillo]

21. Thanks for posting Defensive Omnivore Bingo. Very funny.

nt

[Arkana]

24. That's funny--I don't see "Because this is America and we have a choice

whether or not we want to eat meat" on your bingo card there.