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Ain’t Nobody Here But Us (Contaminated) Chickens

  • Spence Cooper
  • January 22, 2010

It seems there is virtually nothing left in the commercial food market that is safe to eat. On Monday, Reuters warned that 390 tons of ground beef produced by a California meat packer is being recalled for fear E. coli contamination.

Last year at least nine people died and over 22,000 were poisoned from contaminated food that was used by dozens of manufacturers in hundreds of products that were all recalled. In September ’09, we learned that thousands of schools across the nation served contaminated peanut butter and canned vegetables to schoolchildren weeks after recalls were announced.

From the 2009 annals of contaminated ground beef, peanut butter, peanuts, and pistachios, we begin the new year by turning our gaze to disturbing reports of contaminated chicken. In Consumer Reports’ latest analysis of whole broilers bought at stores nationwide, two-thirds harbored salmonella and/or campylobacter, the leading bacterial causes of foodborne disease.

For their latest analysis, CR had an “outside lab test 382 chickens bought last spring from more than 100 supermarkets, gourmet- and natural-food stores, and mass merchandisers in 22 states.” They tested Foster Farms, Perdue, and Tyson, “as well as 30 nonorganic store brands, nine organic store brands, and nine organic name brands.”

Ain’t Nobody Here But Us (Contaminated) ChickensThis following results are among CR’s findings:

* Campylobacter was in 62 percent of the chickens, salmonella was in 14 percent, and both bacteria were in 9 percent. Only 34 percent of the birds were clear of both pathogens. That’s double the percentage of clean birds we found in our 2007 report but far less than the 51 percent in our 2003 report.

* Among the cleanest overall were air-chilled broilers [a slaughterhouse process in which carcasses are refrigerated and may be misted, rather than dunked in cold chlorinated water]. About 40 percent harbored one or both pathogens. Eight Bell & Evans organic broilers, which are air chilled, were free of both, but our sample was too small to determine that all Bell & Evans broilers would be.

* Store-brand organic chickens had no salmonella at all, showing that it’s possible for chicken to arrive in stores without that bacterium riding along. But as our tests showed, banishing one bug doesn’t mean banishing both: 57 percent of those birds harbored campylobacter.

* The cleanest name-brand chickens were Perdue’s: 56 percent were free of both pathogens. This is the first time since we began testing chicken that one major brand has fared significantly better than others across the board.

* Most contaminated were Tyson and Foster Farms chickens. More than 80 percent tested positive for one or both pathogens.

* Among all brands and types of broilers tested, 68 percent of the salmonella and 60 percent of the campylobacter organisms we analyzed showed resistance to one or more antibiotics.

What’s particularly disturbing is that a high percentage of bacteria in CR’s tested chickens were resistant to one or more antibiotics, thus rendering food poisoning in humans far more difficult to treat. The U.S. used a total of 35 million pounds of antibiotics last year, 70 percent” 28 million pounds” were used on U.S. animals alone. Last March, a Minnesota dairy farm sent a cow to be slaughtered that had 129 times the amount of penicillin allowed by law.

The explosion of human drug-resistant infections are responsible for the death of tens of thousands, and have been linked to antibiotics that are needlessly given to animals. The antibiotic-resistant staph infection known as MRSA kills more Americans than AIDS, and is widespread in the U.S. pig herd.

Eating food regulated by our government is like playing Russian Roulette. In our dystopian, Mad Max world of food, all we can do is eliminate as many hazardous variables as possible. One sure way to ensure the food we eat is safe is to grow our own vegetables, raise our own chickens, buy beef from the Amish, or buy as much of our food as possible from a trustworthy organic farm.

If you must purchase chicken from commercial food chains, wash all counters and cutting boards uncooked chicken comes in contact with and follow these guidelines:

* Place chicken in a plastic bag like those in the produce department to keep juices from leaking.

* Choose chicken that is well wrapped and at the bottom of the case, where the temperature should be coolest. Buy chicken last before heading to the checkout line.

* If you’ll cook the chicken within a couple of days, store it at 40 degrees F or below. Otherwise, freeze it.

* Thaw frozen chicken in a refrigerator, inside its packaging and on a plate, or on a plate in a microwave oven. Never thaw it on a counter: When the inside is still frozen, the outside can warm up, providing a breeding ground for bacteria. Cook chicken thawed in a microwave oven right away.

* Cook chicken to at least 165 degrees F. Even if it’s no longer pink, it can still harbor bacteria, so use a meat thermometer.

* Don’t return cooked meat to the plate that held it raw.

* Refrigerate or freeze leftovers within 2 hours of cooking.

(source: prnewswire)

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