Another ground beef recall (particularly bad e. coli strain)

[brittone2]

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_059_2009_Release/index.asp
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20091102_Beef_recall_affecting_Pa___N_J__expanded. html

Includes beef sold at Trader Joe's, Price Chopper, Giant, etc.

I heard a bit about this on the radio this morning and they mentioned this particular strain of e. coli is especially nasty.

FWIW, it was also pointed out that if these meat processing companies detect e. coli in their raw meat, they can then cook the same contaminated meat and sell it in pre-cooked products.

[lchang25000]

Good thing we don't eat ground meat here anymore.

[brittone2]

Good thing we don't eat ground meat here anymore.

We eat grassfed (local) beef, and grassfed beef is very unlikely to have e. coli contamination, thankfully.

[lizzywednesday]

We eat grassfed (local) beef, and grassfed beef is very unlikely to have e. coli contamination, thankfully.

And my DH wonders why I would rather splurge for grass-fed beef...

[infomama]

These are the times I am so thankful we take the plunge once a year and buy a cow to be butchered. Grass fed two year old last year..we split it three ways with two other families and still have meat in the freezer.

[HannaAddict]

We eat grassfed (local) beef, and grassfed beef is very unlikely to have e. coli contamination, thankfully.

Grassfed doesn't really make the beef less likely to have e-coli. The smaller, local ranches though are supposed to have better slaughter practices that result in less contamination than the cheap, cheap, cheap places that will scrape anything off the floor to put it in a burger. We haven't bought any ground beef, organic, happy grass fed cows or not, since an expose in our local paper about the percentage of dangerous e-coli that gets through the food chain, e-coli and isn't killed by proper cooking. Costco, believe it or not, is one of the few stores that does its own testing of the meat it buys to grind, and catches e-coli at that point, beef that passed the federal inspectors. Be careful with eating any ground beef, unless you buy a nice grass fed steak and watch your local butcher grind it, we are lucky to have a butcher in our neighborhood.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Fan-freaking-tastic. After not eating beef for 2 decades I started a few months ago. Last week we ate ground beef from Trader Joe's. It smelled a bit funny but it was fresh (per the package dates) and I figured it was because I hadn't cooked ground meat in a very, very long time. Thank goodness we ddn't get sick! I really didn't like the chili I made with it so I ate around the meat. The boys didn't like it either. Guess I', glad no one liked my cooking that night.

I'll ditch the other 1/2lb that I browned and froze.

Beth

[hellokitty]

This makes me glad that we order our beef from someone we know. Really, the, "safest" way to get ground beef though is to grind it yourself. I guess it's the meat grinder machinery that isn't cleaned well that is usually the culprit.

[MamaKath]

Man, I am kind of depressed by this. I have the oddest craving for meatballs. I rarely cook redmeat anymore, but nearly hit Giant on the way home from work. Sick kiddo sent me straight home instead. Going to kiss the sick kiddo!!!

[brittone2]

Grassfed doesn't really make the beef less likely to have e-coli. The smaller, local ranches though are supposed to have better slaughter practices that result in less contamination than the cheap, cheap, cheap places that will scrape anything off the floor to put it in a burger. We haven't bought any ground beef, organic, happy grass fed cows or not, since an expose in our local paper about the percentage of dangerous e-coli that gets through the food chain, e-coli and isn't killed by proper cooking. Costco, believe it or not, is one of the few stores that does its own testing of the meat it buys to grind, and catches e-coli at that point, beef that passed the federal inspectors. Be careful with eating any ground beef, unless you buy a nice grass fed steak and watch your local butcher grind it, we are lucky to have a butcher in our neighborhood.


In the past what I've read indicates there are much lower rates of e. coli in grassfed beef. The GI tracts of animals fed grain diets are much more hospitable to e. coli than that of exclusively grassfed animals (eta: also feedlot beef are exposed to more fecal matter, etc. on the outside of their body since the conditions tend to be nastier...as an over- generalization of course. Meat processing plants are supposed to be very careful in removing the hide, etc. and to keep it from contacting the muscle portion to avoid contamination for that reason) . I haven't kept up on the most current info on that (maybe it has changed) but we eat grassfed for other reasons as well.

We buy from a local farmer (in bulk) and it is processed at a small local facility FWIW. Like anything, I think anytime you know where your food comes from it is at least a *little* better, kwim? Never a guarantee, but I like knowing how our food is raised/grown.

[Tondi G]

So any packages of TJ's meat I have that are not with the sell by dates 10/6 to 10/7 are ok?

I have a package that had a date a week before and some that had a sell by date of last week. would you eat it???

they only note the types of package and NOTE: The sell-by dates for the above two products may be October 6 or 7, 2009

What does MAY be mean... that there could be other dates involved?

[TonFirst]

In the past what I've read indicates there are much lower rates of e. coli in grassfed beef. The GI tracts of animals fed grain diets are much more hospitable to e. coli than that of exclusively grassfed animals (eta: also feedlot beef are exposed to more fecal matter, etc. on the outside of their body since the conditions tend to be nastier...as an over- generalization of course. Meat processing plants are supposed to be very careful in removing the hide, etc. and to keep it from contacting the muscle portion to avoid contamination for that reason) . I haven't kept up on the most current info on that (maybe it has changed) but we eat grassfed for other reasons as well.

We buy from a local farmer (in bulk) and it is processed at a small local facility FWIW. Like anything, I think anytime you know where your food comes from it is at least a *little* better, kwim? Never a guarantee, but I like knowing how our food is raised/grown.

Yes, this. Woo Michael Pollan!

The cows (and pigs) we eat are raised and processed about 45 minutes from where we live. We subscribe to a meat CSA and happily devour the ground beef that comes in our box each month. If we run out, we grind our own from local chuck we buy at Whole Foods. Yes, we spend a lot on food, but it's our FOOD, you know? (And really, for a family of four, we don't spend THAT much - about $200/week between Whole Foods and Costco, and the meat CSA).

[AnnieW625]

This makes me yearn for living in NorCal where most meat was from at most a 3 hour radius of our home. Our favorite was Harris Ranch (largish ranch, but very good quality), which is really half way between here and home, but it's a pain to find in our part of So Cal. I was going to go to TJ's today because we need ground beef, but I think we'll go to Costco and get some Organic Beef chubs they have. It's not local, but it's really good and from South Dakota, it's called Dakota Beef.

We don't eat much ground beef anymore because DD doesn't like it except in spaghetti, lasagne, or chili, or the occaisional burger my sister brings her when she visits so I am slowly getting used to not eating it a lot.

Trader Joe's will most likely take any beef back purchased during that week.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I had been buying our beef from a local farm that is small scale, grass fed meat and all those good things. The TJ's was a spur of the moment idea. Guess I'll be more mindful of my purchases.

Beth

[Twoboos]

Ugh, our local news included Wild Harvest in the list - isn't that like a Whole Foods?? Is nowhere safe!?!?

We get ground beef in our meat CSA too, but once we're out, we're out and sometimes we need more... now I feel like I can't buy it anywhere.

[TonFirst]

Ugh, our local news included Wild Harvest in the list - isn't that like a Whole Foods?? Is nowhere safe!?!?

I *think* the store affiliated with Whole Foods is Wild Oats. Wild Oats, Fresh Fields, and (in Atlanta) Harry's are all owned and operated by Whole Foods. If we need ground beef, we just buy a whole chuck roast from Whole Foods and grind it with the meat grinding attachment on our KitchenAid. It is super easy and cleanup is a breeze.