E. Coli & Meat Inspection

[somethinginthewind]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/he...nted=1&_r=3&em

A long - and frightening - article on meat inspection in the US and how a 22-yr-old woman got an E.coli infection that paralyzed her from the waist down, from eating a hamburger.

[pyramidsong]

Eek. One more reason I'm glad to be veg.

[WineKitty]

DISCLOSURE-- Didnt read article. The very mention of "long" was enough to deter me....sorry.

Eating undercooked ground meat, I will say, is always rolling the dice. I always err on cooking meat longer, always go for well done on everything.

[Amelia]

That's horrible. Poor girl. There have been reports about E.coli outbreaks in the UK, and I knew it was bad, but didn't know it could do that.

This phrase stuck in my mind when I read it!
When handling raw meat mutter the mantra "turd to tongue" or - if you have squeamish tendencies - "manure to mouth".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7734939.stm

[Micronian]

great article!

...and, like usual, the culprit is capitalism: business over safety, going for low cost, backroom deals, etc. etc.

by the way. this past year, I've suffered from 3 bacterial stomach infections (two of which I had to go to the hospital) and they really do hurt. And one thing about the article gets me confused: in all my bouts of stomach infections, the pains all started in 24 hours or less. This woman's pains came only days later. From what the doctor told me, the pain comes from the white blood cells attacking (killing) the bacteria within the stomach/duodenum.

I wonder why it took so long for the symptoms to start on this woman? maybe she didn't have enough antibodies to treat the illness early in the stomach, and so it spread down to her intestines where it was too late to stop the damage??

[Dempsey]

Originally Posted by pyramidsong

Eek. One more reason I'm glad to be veg.

A meat-eater would stand a better chance fighting off bacteria than a vegetarian. E. Coli can get into vegetarian food via cross-contamination, especially if its a small place.

Vegetarians have a reputation for being quite sickly .

[pyramidsong]

Originally Posted by Dempsey

Vegetarians have a reputation for being quite sickly .

I am a pre-vet (therefore pre-med) student, and I know all about E.Coli bacteria and how they operate. I also have a pretty good understanding of metabolism, immunity and nutrition. I would like some statistics on these "sickly" vegetarians to whom you refer, please, if you're going to make such a generalisation.

No animosity, just wanted to point out that reputations are usually based on opinion rather than fact.

[Dempsey]

Originally Posted by pyramidsong

I am a pre-vet (therefore pre-med) student, and I know all about E.Coli bacteria and how they operate. I also have a pretty good understanding of metabolism, immunity and nutrition. I would like some statistics on these "sickly" vegetarians to whom you refer, please, if you're going to make such a generalisation.

No animosity, just wanted to point out that reputations are usually based on opinion rather than fact.

Just from someone who works in a kitchen. Eating vegetarian food wont guarantee safety from cross-contamination if the place sells meat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism#Food_safety

Also what does E.Coli have to do with meat?

Also also vegetarians are known to be quite sickly. Though I wouldn't blame that on vegetarianism but rather the ignorance of those who cut out meat without supplementing it.

[pyramidsong]

Again, known by whom? It is an assumption a lot of people make, sometimes accurate, sometimes not. We generally consume less saturated fat, for one thing. Lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure. That is why I asked for stats- at this stage the assertion you're making seems based on personal opinion and anecdotal evidence. Having said that, you are absolutely correct on your last point, lack of nutritional education and preparation is detrimental to anybody, particularly those who make the transition from omni to veg. I do however take exception to people assuming that a vegetarian diet is by definition unhealthy. I am no health food purist, but I do find it bemusing when people say to me, "vegetarians are unhealthy" and those people are in the habit of eating take aways and drinking gigantic cups of soft drink. I don't mean you, I've been told by many people "we need meat" "vegetarians are sickly" and so on.

[Amelia]

Originally Posted by Micronian

this past year, I've suffered from 3 bacterial stomach infections (two of which I had to go to the hospital) and they really do hurt.

That must have been awful! Is it wrong to suspect that this might have something to do with raw fish or Japanese food hygiene...? Surely these dishes with lots of little piddly pieces of food are likely to involve a lot of handling, especially if they aren't cooked.

[bowlingpins]

Originally Posted by Dempsey

Just from someone who works in a kitchen. Eating vegetarian food wont guarantee safety from cross-contamination if the place sells meat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism#Food_safety

Also what does E.Coli have to do with meat?

Also also vegetarians are known to be quite sickly. Though I wouldn't blame that on vegetarianism but rather the ignorance of those who cut out meat without supplementing it.

Being vegetarian does not guarantee safety but makes food poisoning less likely vs. when eating meat.
What does Ecoli have to do with meat? Well, for one it is found in GI tracts of animals (& humans) and it is very possible for it to get into the meat if proper procedures are not followed.
Vegetarians are known to be quite sickly? That is news to me. If you have some good evidence to support this claim, please share.

[UltraShy]

Disclosure: I only read the first page of the article.

Why don't we simply irradiate food to kill all these nasty things that will make us sick?

Instead of doing battle with a real threat to human health, we have those who are nothing but fear-mongers who promote the lie that irradiated food is dangerous. No, irradiated food is safe, while that which isn't might just kill you.

[Micronian]

Originally Posted by Amelia

That must have been awful! Is it wrong to suspect that this might have something to do with raw fish or Japanese food hygiene...? Surely these dishes with lots of little piddly pieces of food are likely to involve a lot of handling, especially if they aren't cooked.

It's difficult to say. There are sometimes warnings of contaminated foods coming from China, raw fish is certainly a factor (though it doesn't keep people from having sushi), and in my case, the danger of eating "street food".

I hear of people having gastritis often, and even commercials to fight stomach pains. And japan has a high rate of a particular stomach virus strain called h.pylori. The danger is certainly there to have something wrong with your stomach, but I don't think it's much higher than in the US or Canada.