October 5 Update: The New York Times has posted a video to accompany the article mentioned below. The video demonstrates an experiment designed to see whether consumers can prevent cross-contamination by simply following directions on a package of ground beef. It's fascinating, and definitely worth the four minutes to watch.
Incidentally, I literally shuddered to see that the testers were using a wooden cutting board to prepare the hamburgers. Not surprisingly, however, and despite the best efforts of the testers, that wooden cutting board was later found to be badly contaminated. As I've said here before many times, wooden cutting boards harbor more bacteria than plastic ones.
Here's the video. My original post begins below:
An article in Sunday's New York Times focuses on the risk of E. coli poisoning from store-bought ground beef, and finds that eating ground beef is essentially a crapshoot. "Neither the system meant to make the meat safe, nor the meat itself, is what consumers have been led to believe," the article concludes.
Grind your own burgers. Photo © Danilo Alfaro
It's hard to argue with that judgment, but that doesn't mean you have to quit eating burgers. For starters, like all harmful bacteria, E. coli is killed by cooking it. Cooking your burgers thoroughly (forget medium rare) will ensure you don't get sick from E. coli.
But if you can't bear the thought of eating well-done burgers for the rest of your life, don't worry. You can grind your own beef, which means you'll always know what went into your burgers — and what didn't. It's not hard to do, and you'll appreciate the peace of mind it brings. Plus, I think you get much tastier burgers from meat you grind yourself.
Here's an article that offers some ground beef safety tips, and here's one with a little bit more info about the E. coli bacteria.
Finally, remember these three basic steps for preventing food poisoning:
Incidentally, I literally shuddered to see that the testers were using a wooden cutting board to prepare the hamburgers. Not surprisingly, however, and despite the best efforts of the testers, that wooden cutting board was later found to be badly contaminated. As I've said here before many times, wooden cutting boards harbor more bacteria than plastic ones.
Here's the video. My original post begins below:
An article in Sunday's New York Times focuses on the risk of E. coli poisoning from store-bought ground beef, and finds that eating ground beef is essentially a crapshoot. "Neither the system meant to make the meat safe, nor the meat itself, is what consumers have been led to believe," the article concludes.
Grind your own burgers. Photo © Danilo Alfaro
It's hard to argue with that judgment, but that doesn't mean you have to quit eating burgers. For starters, like all harmful bacteria, E. coli is killed by cooking it. Cooking your burgers thoroughly (forget medium rare) will ensure you don't get sick from E. coli.
But if you can't bear the thought of eating well-done burgers for the rest of your life, don't worry. You can grind your own beef, which means you'll always know what went into your burgers — and what didn't. It's not hard to do, and you'll appreciate the peace of mind it brings. Plus, I think you get much tastier burgers from meat you grind yourself.
Here's an article that offers some ground beef safety tips, and here's one with a little bit more info about the E. coli bacteria.
Finally, remember these three basic steps for preventing food poisoning:
Comments
I’ve given up on store ground beef/2-months ago I picked up some ground turkey for real cheap and wound up with a RASH—for 2-weeks..I’ve priced a kitchen appliance(attachment)for grinding meat—its about $$160.00/..but a food processor might get you onto a great sirloin burger made with other ingredients..I’ve been making fish burger’s from canned salmon..and I’m still working at making a VEGGIE-Burger/..I think Burger’s are the next best thing…compared to spagetti.