our government is keeping us safe - tho not necessarily alive !

www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/big-ground-beef-e-coli-recall-expands-nationwide-n110336

Yes, it happens with fruits, vegetables and various products on store shelves. Recalls are fairly common and there isn't a single month that doesn't go by without one. It's mentioned in the news, but usually underplayed for some Miley Cyrus or pet fascination story. That's American culture for ya...

This particular one, however, is pretty noteworthy since it is the largest one we've had in nearly a decade and 2 million pounds of it at that. If the consumers haven't took notice by now, I'm not sure when they will. One can only beat a dead bird so many times.

I found this excerpt pretty depressing, but also very telling of the government's (USDA) priorities:

Federal officials aren't required to say which restaurants served the tainted hamburger linked to the largest recall of its kind in six years. And they don't have to tell consumers what type of restaurant.

Restaurant chefs have no way of knowing if their meat is tainted and whether they need to overcook it. I suspect some big fast food chain is involved and the USDA does not want to "fearmonger". What an absolute disgrace, but not surprising given their history of protecting corporations.

Contamination in bulk-ground meat is part of the reason I buy local beef. (The other reasons are because it's a lot cheaper, because I think it tastes better, and because I'm supporting both a local farmer and local meat processor.)

Anyway, a good friend of mine works in food safety, and she said that the bacterial load on beef processed in a small, local-type outfit, where they're processing just one animal at a time and it's not across the street from a massive feed lot, is incredibly lower than beef processed in a big facility.

I still cook all ground beef to well, though.