lancefisher's Flickr photostream/Creative Commons

Beef contaminated with the bacteria E. coli has been a growing health concern recently, leading to massive recalls and increased cases of illness and death. In one heartwrenching story, a young woman was paralyzed from a food borne illness caused by E. coli.  Stephanie Smith was a children’s dance instructor prior to eating the contaminated beef, and while her reaction to the virulent strain of E. coli was extreme, the New York Times reports that eating ground beef is still a huge gamble:

Ground beef is usually not simply a chunk of meat run through a grinder. Instead, records and interviews show, a single portion of hamburger meat is often an amalgam of various grades of meat from different parts of cows and even from different slaughterhouses. These cuts of meat are particularly vulnerable to E. coli contamination, food experts and officials say. Despite this, there is no federal requirement for grinders to test their ingredients for the pathogen.

Without going into the gritty details of how the contamination occurs and is overlooked (areas which the article explores) I will say that the meat industry must remove their veil of secrecy that is endangering human lives and open their practices to stricter safety inspections.

That said, we need to recognize that the scale at which most of these companies produce and process beef and other meats by nature lends itself to risk and negligence.  While the U.S. Department of Agriculture is attempting to curtail contamination by increasing inspections, particularly in light of recent outbreaks of food-borne illnesses, but lacking strict enforcement against violations and an inability to observe every step of the processing, there’s no way can expect them to hold the industry accountable.

This potentially contaminated beef can be found all over, from grocery stores to fast food restaurants, as well as school lunches.  By disregarding health precautions, resisting tests for E. coli and other contaminants, and financing their own safety studies, these companies aim to make a maximum profit while putting the minimum premium on consumer health and safety.

Use the action link below to demand better safety standards and stricter regulation of the meat industry, and find safe meat near you with the Eat Well Guide.