Drug-resistant bacteria found in half of U.S. meat

Welcome to the staph aisle? A study published April 15, 2011 found drug-resistant bacteria in nearly half of all samples of beef, pork, and poultry from U.S. supermarkets. / AP

A new study finds that much of meat and poultry sold in supermarkets is contaminated with drug-resistant staph bacteria.

Researchers bought beef, chicken, pork, and turkey in five U.S. cities and found that nearly half of the meat sampled -- 47 percent -- contained drug resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus.

The "staph" bacteria is linked to a range of health problems from rashes and respiratory ailments to potentially fatal illnesses such as sepsis and endocarditis. Due to overexposure, staph bacteria have grown resistant to an ever-widening range of the antibiotic drugs used to fight them; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA has become a deadly scourge in U.S. hospitals.

But there is perhaps no greater contributor to the rise of drug-resistant staphs than the meat industry, where animals are preemptively treated with a range of antibiotics.

The April 15 study in the medical journal "Clinical Infectious Diseases" was conducted by Translational Genomics Research Institute.

Among the staph-contaminated samples, more than half were resistant to at least three types of antibiotics.

Experts note that staph bacteria can be killed by thoroughly cooking meat, but improper handling and cross-contamination -- such as by reusing a cutting board or knife that has come in contact with the raw meat -- can still lead to infections.

[c_etude]

I think it's funny-it's called "METH": That is, MRSA EATING TASTY HUMANS.

[jesbug]

Feed Lots and Factory Farming are harmful food producing methods, period! Correct farming practices have always required crop and pasture ROTATION. Even the Bible mentions rotation of crops! Crops are rotated to retain fertility and keep down disease. Animals must also be rotated to new pastures for allowing waste to breakdown and fertilize the soil, help keep parasite infestation from taking over, bacteria from growing out of control and provide healthful grass for cattle which they absolutely should have in their diets. Farming should be encouraged, respected and understood by the majority.

[jesbug]

Feed Lots and Factory Farming are harmful food producing methods, period! Correct farming practices have always required crop and pasture ROTATION. Even the Bible mentions rotation of crops! Crops are rotated to retain fertility and keep down disease. Animals must also be rotated to new pastures for allowing waste to breakdown and fertilize the soil, help keep parasite infestation from taking over, bacteria from growing out of control and provide healthful grass for cattle which they absolutely should have in their diets. Farming should be encouraged, respected and understood by the majority.

[LawandReason]

Great. Thanks for telling us contaminated meat was found in 5 cities and NOT telling us what those 5 cities are -- really helpful.

[curiouscook]

Can't cooks and consumers expect any news organization to delve into the facts before spewing out totally unscientific conclusions, alarming claims, and sensational headlines? I'm reading the journal article, and until I obtain supplemental material the authors claim is available, but which is not on the link cited, I cannot go beyond this simple fact: No one can truthfully say ANYTHING about "steaks" or "half the meat" based upon this study.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the news media should not be accompanying this story with images showing whole muscle cuts of beef. There were no steaks in this study. These "scientists" bought 38 samples of GROUND BEEF. No steaks. No roasts. No whole muscle cuts. Another straightforward fact: 24 of the 38 ground beef samples tested free of the bacteria.

[erasmus111]

"Another straightforward fact: 24 of the 38 ground beef samples tested free of the bacteria."


Woop dee doo.

Here's a straight forward fact for you: Just about all our food is contaminated with bacteria, toxic chemicals, insect parts, glass....the list is long. People close their eyes and ears to it because they just don't want to know. For a lot of people, if they can't see it, it doesn't exist.

[Robin2peace]

Interesting that there is no mention of why the farm animals are put on the antibiotics in the first place, which is due to severe overcrowding, horrid living conditions, lack of care and concern for their well being and lack of a decent diet for them. So many are slaughtered at such a fast rate to keep up with our increasing demand for meat that sanitary conditions for the animals and workers is nearly non existant. The only way to keep the animals alive long enough to slaughter them for food is to pump them with antibiotics to fight the respitory and bacterial infections they face daily. This is nothing new but has gotten worse not better. Organic family farms may be safer for meat (although this is no guarentee), but eventually these farmers will not be able to keep up with the increasing demand for organically raised and fed meat either and compromises will be made, as they already are on many so called "organic" farms. Oh, and factory farming/waste contributes greatly to the contamination in our drinking water and land pollution, waste, and runoff. Comparing this to nuclear waste is like apples and oranges. Both are vital issues that need to be addressed and both are causing irreversible destruction that needs to be addressed. One is not more important than the other. We need to be less complacent and dismissive.

[artwoz1841]

why is the video not available?

[skeezix06]

The hogs were clearly part of a corporate farming operation. In a small farm operation they would have been released outside in a pen well before they got that big. The cows were, in all likelihood, in a feedlot, not a pasture.

In other words, you used what gives every appearance of corporate farming rather than small farming to point a finger at the guilty and innocent alike.

[erasmus111]

What's a few drug-resistant bacteria in the meat, when you have jet fuel, nuclear waste, and a million other chemicals in your drinking water? : )

[seebsnudes]

I know! little radioactice MRSAs on Viagra! ****!

[nottakingitanymore]

It might add some accuracy in this report, to include separate figures for "organic" and kosher products.
Also, how about irradiation of meat products after handling, and video monitoring all lines of the packaging process, with all of it watched before the sale, by quality control experts and cultures obtained before they're sent to stores.

Stop the screams of protest! - irradiation is harmless! Compared to illnesses caused by staph and "carrier" formation, with disease potential rampant, especially to those with impaired immunity, it should be welcomed!! Since "carriers" don't always have positive cultures, it's impossible to keep them off the meat processing line, or working in operating rooms, etc. It's human error that transmutes the diseases caused by staphylococcus aureus and other disease causing microbes.

Articles such as this one add to hysteria of consumers, without giving the measures meantioned in the comments above. That's irresponsible reporting!

Much the same thing happens with vaccine phobic parents who don't innoculate their children.