Drug-Resistant Staph Bacteria Found In Half Of U.S. Meat

Slashfood:

What's lurking in the meat you're buying for your family? Plenty of bacteria, according to a new study, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. Almost half of all the beef, chicken, pork, and turkey bought in five U.S. cities and sampled by researchers, was found to contain drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, reports CBS News.

Read the whole story

Comments

[MissMel10]

03:50 PM on 04/19/2011

Scary stuff!! Definitely makes me even happier to be a Pescetarian!

[mothergrace]

12:14 PM on 04/18/2011

Not that this is not a problem but the headline and the "whole story" it links to is misleading. Half of the meat tested had staph present but only half of the staph found was drug resistant.

I know you can say it doesn't really matter, and in some ways it doesn't, but accuracy, at least in the story if not in an overblown headline, should count for something.

However, I am still against this practice (and have been for many, many years) and will still buy my meat from local pasture raised sources.

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/food-poisoning/news/20110415/study-drug-resistant-bacteria-in-us-meat

[Finnegans Wake]

11:34 AM on 04/18/2011

This simply reinforces the importance of avoiding commercially raised meats (CAFO-raised, industrial processors like Tyson, Smithfield, Cargill) and buying direct from local, organic, sustainable farms that raise their animals on pasture. Much safer, much more healthful, and a better way to spend your money than making the uncaring corporations rich.

[CPAwADD]

09:10 AM on 04/18/2011

An evolutionary microbiologist could scarcely come up with a more efficient way to produce large quantities of multiple drug resistant bacteria than continuous sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotic to host animals in dirty, overcrowded conditions. MRSA is bad.
Gee, maybe they should start giving the cows sub-therapeutic doses of vancomycin so they render ineffective nearly every anti-biotic we have for treating Staph aureus infections.

[P51MUSTANG]

10:57 AM on 04/18/2011

I read somewhere that the simultaneous arrival of MRSA all over this country is due primarily to one thing --- spreading of sewage sludge on farmers fields, COMBINED with the amount of antibiotics flushed down the toilet --- both pills, and in human urine/feces. We turned thousands of acres into a petri dish giving staph every opportunity to adapt.

[CPAwADD]

07:25 PM on 04/18/2011

Totally makes sense, they over fertilize the fields and then the runoff pollutes nearby water sources.

[lackofoversight]

06:38 PM on 04/17/2011

Remember when we used to have a USDA whose job it was to insure the meat sold to the American people was safe. They were supposed to inspect meat plants and farm animals to guarantee the meat was healthy. Now the whole system has degenerated to the point where the public is being warned to cook all meat thoroughly and carefully clean all cooking utensils and food preparation areas.

I want the government to do its job and clean up the meat industry so families don't have to worry if grandmother's Sunday roast is safe to eat. The lack of government inspection and enforcement in this country is a disgrace!

[StephenJK]

10:11 AM on 04/17/2011

Good ol' factory farming and fear of germs. Maybe at some point we'll oversterilize everything and weaken ourselves to the point where we go extinct. I could see that happening. I've never been one to shy away from taking in a few germs here and there. Especially when I was a boy. People who live and raise children in oversterilized homes inevitably become weaker and weaker against pathogens. Don't fear the microbes, they help our body understand how to fight them. If you never introduce your immune system to these microscopic bugs, it will never develop proper defenses. Not to mention, you have 1000s of beneficial bacteria on your skin and in your gut that you really want to flourish. Annual vaccinations for the flu should have never become what they are today. Tricking our immune system to develop antibodies to particular strains won't protect you from an unknown or forgotten strain. At least that is my basic understanding of it.

[sabelmouse]

10:33 AM on 04/17/2011

i think modern medicine is already getting us there. between the over medication and vaccination alone we're getting weakened.

[ontariogirl]

09:49 AM on 04/17/2011

Buy local. Buy close to home and see how the animals are raised and what they are fed. Mass production of our food will be our demise.

[Grada3784]

09:33 PM on 04/16/2011

Hormones and antibiotics, anyone?

[Laxsmi de Potrero]

07:35 PM on 04/16/2011

fortunately, there are growing numbers of humans who are resistant to meat also.

[FaunaAndFlora]

11:34 PM on 04/16/2011

Growing numbers, huh? Less then 1% of the population in North America is vegan. As for vegetarians, most sources put the number at somewhere around 2.5%, although some studies suggest that 2 out of 3 self-described vegetarians actually eat almost as much meat as the rest of us do. Go figure.

[Laxsmi de Potrero]

11:50 AM on 04/17/2011

i don't know your source, however, at least some think vegetarianism in increasing
http://www.raw-food-health.net/NumberOfVegetarians.html

wikipedia has this: Vegetarianism was endorsed in the United States in 1838 by the American Health Convention. In fact, in 1971 only 1 percent of U.S. citizens described themselves as vegetarians. But vegetarianism became an increasingly attractive and accepted dietary option by the century's end. A 2000 Zogby Poll sponsored by the Vegetarian Resource Group found that 2.5 percent of respondents reported not eating meat, poultry, or fish while 4.5 percent reported not eating meat."[43] A 2008 Harris Interactive study of 5,050 respondents found that "approximately 0.5%, or 1 million [Americans] are vegans, who consume no animal products at all," while a significantly higher number, 3.2% of U.S. adults (7.3 million people) "follow a vegetarian-based diet" and 10% of U.S., adults, or 22.8 million people, "say they largely follow a vegetarian-inclined diet." [44]

[landskroon]

06:23 PM on 04/16/2011

And, who protects the people of the USA ? The Meatboys? Walmart? No, no one so the solution is: Vegetarian life !!

[Marisa 31flavours]

03:03 PM on 04/16/2011

People who think this is "scare tactics" are just kidding themselves. The source is The Journal of Infectous Diseases. Those are real scientists, thats all they do all day long; their profession is science. They're just making stuff up right?
This crap doesnt or hasnt effected people, because MOST PEOPLE ARE HEALTHY and their immune systems work and our bodies take care of us. Your living in a dream world if you think this will not effect you.
Just another example supporting that US is bought and paid for. Govmt doesnt stand, nor represent us.

[VEGAN]

02:20 PM on 04/16/2011

I think all meat would have "bad stuff in it"...all the more reason to go vegan, hope in peace... hope in great health!

[DakkonA]

02:09 PM on 04/16/2011

Ever hear of a thing called "cooking"? Yeah, its this new invention that uses heat to kill bacteria. Weird right? And they won't be resistant to that.

[stape45]

05:40 PM on 04/16/2011

But why is it even there?

[DakkonA]

06:20 PM on 04/16/2011

Because it is everywhere now. S. aureus is a common skin bacteria.

[leftcoastindy]

07:57 PM on 04/16/2011

Ever hear of a thing called hydro chloric acid? Since when does Staphy mulitiply in stomach acid?

[DakkonA]

03:31 AM on 04/17/2011

Not so much sulfuric acid in your throat, mouth, and hands. But even then, S. aureus is opportunistic pathogen.

[FreeWill4All]

12:53 PM on 04/16/2011

I agree that this is important information, however the title of this article is just plain nonsense. 5 US cities!!! My God our country has shrank while I slept. Cook all meat to at least 160 degrees F and enjoy. Thank you for letting us know but lets not get carried away with the fear fright and Lysteria...

[Marisa 31flavours]

02:32 PM on 04/16/2011

Um, you clearly dont have any idea of how statistics work do you. People love denial. Everythings ok until it effects you.

[FreeWill4All]

05:44 PM on 04/16/2011

Well as superficial as your statement is, it is quite apart you are not versed in stats either since you are clearly saying you believe that 1 out of 2 pieces of meat are tainted in a country that uses thousands of sources for meat grown in thousands of ways. I agree you enjoy talking around a mute point. Good luck with cooking methods and healthy eating to you and yours.

[fmz]

11:37 AM on 04/16/2011

Doesn't get more simple than the old saying, You are what you eat.

[P51MUSTANG]

10:59 AM on 04/18/2011

I'm a killer. Dynamite with a laser beam.