let's talk farm animals

Your Burger is Done at 71: Food Safety on the Homefront

Guest blog by Lyndsey Smith

Lyndsey Smith is the editor of RealAgriculture.com, and based at Winnipeg, Manitoba.

I had a Twitter conversation yesterday, regarding E. coli contamination, that got me rather riled up. Because Twitter allows me to interact with so many people, it really does open my eyes to some of the major knowledge gaps the public has on food safety. As we discussed the XL Foods beef recall, some tweeted that they were safe because they bought their beef from a neighbour.

While not eating meat contained on the recall list is the right call, buying local will not protect you from E. coli. And that was just the beginning of the other ways people were “protecting” themselves from E. coli: others pledged to buy only organic beef, still more claimed being vegetarian would keep them safe.

To clear the air on a few points:

- E. coli can and is carried on vegetables as well as meat. Eating vegan or vegetarian alone will not protect you from the bacteria.

- Buying local will not protect from E. coli contamination. There is nothing wrong with supporting your neighbour’s beef farm but bacteria don’t care where you live. E. coli contamination may happen wherever slaughter occurs.

- Ditto for buying organically or naturally raised beef. Organically raised cattle still poop; there is still a risk.

Read the rest of the blog at http://www.realagriculture.com/2012/10/your-burger-is-done-at-71-food-safety-on-the-homefront/

PrintFriendlyPinterestShare

Posted by FFC on October 5th, 2012 :: Filed under Beef cattle,Canada,Consumers,E. coli,Food,Food safety,Misconceptions,Uncategorized
Tags :: , , , ,