October 6th, 2007 | No Comments

What can a hamburger eating man do?

hammmmmburrrrrgeerrrrrr

I love to eat a good hamburger, but after two E.coli scares in one week ( and a particularly nasty strain I might add ) not to mention mad cow disease, methane gas from cows, etc. I am starting to wonder if beef isn’t more of a problem then it is worth.

Friday, Oct. 5, was not a good day for meat lovers. The first recall in its 67-year history proved to be the last for the Topps Meat Co. Later that same day, Sam’s Club announced that it was pulling frozen hamburgers made by agribusiness conglomerate Cargill Inc.

Topps Meats claimed to be the largest distributer in the world and has now shut their doors, gone out of business in a flash of Escherichia coli .

Wikipedia says:

(E. coli), is one of many species of bacteria living in the lower intestines of mammals, known as gut flora. When located in the large intestine, it assists with waste processing, vitamin K production, and food absorption. Certain strains of E. coli, such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Escherichia coli O121 and Escherichia coli O104:H21, are toxigenic (some produce a toxin very similar to that seen in dysentery). They can cause food poisoning usually associated with eating unwashed vegetables and contaminated meat (contaminated during or shortly after slaughter or during storage or display).

Relevant pics from Flickr