Eat Your Meat

[Lucky]

I think I may have to buy my meat from Mexico given the lack of safety here in the US:

Meat in the U.S. may be widely contaminated with strains of drug-resistant bacteria, researchers reported Friday.

Nearly half of all meat and poultry sampled in a new study contained drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, the type of bacteria that most commonly causes staph infections. Such infections can take many forms, from a minor rash to pneumonia or sepsis. But the findings are less about direct threats to humans than they are about the risks of using antibiotics in agriculture.

Researchers from the Translational Genomics Research Institute, a nonprofit biomedical research center in Phoenix, analyzed 136 samples of beef, chicken, pork and turkey from 80 brands. The samples came from 26 grocery stores in five cities: Los Angeles, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Flagstaff, Ariz., and Washington, D.C.

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-meat-bacteria-20110415,0,7997782.story

[Guest epigonos]

Lucky you, most likely, do not have to seek out Mexican beef. In the early 20th century there was a considerable amount of indiscriminate mingling of cattle from the eight northern states of Mexico with those in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and to a lesser extend California. Because of the ever present concern regarding epidemics of foot and mouth disease in Mexico the two governments negotiated an accord. That agreement allowed and continues to allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture Department to inspect and certify Mexican cattle and beef products from the eight northern Mexican states. By the terms of the agreement cattle and beef from Central and Southern Mexico may not be exported to the U.S. The vast majority of beef sold in Southwest U.S. is imported from Mexico. The point of this is that you have, most likely, been eating Mexican beef all of your life and didn't even know it.

[Guest BeachBoy]

OK, so, this is something I wanted to know nothing about. Glad I'm on a vegetable kick this month.

[Guest epigonos]

Another interesting aside is that while U.S. cattle are usually finished in huge feed lots where they are fed and fattened on corn (corncake) this is not the case in Mexico. In Mexico the cattle are normally finished on open range where they feed on grass. These two different finishing methods created very different beef products. U.S. mid-western beef tends to be very tender with a mild flavor. Mexican beef tends to be chewy and have a slightly more gamey flavor.

I have lived all of my life in Southern California and thus grew up on Mexican beef. A couple of years ago I spent a night in Rosemont Ill., in order to make a flight the next day at O’Hare Airport. Being alone I set up an evening appointment with Dane Scott. When Dane arrived we when out to dinner at the Rosewood Restaurant. I ordered prime rib and was blown away. I could almost cut the meat with a fork it was so tender. The flavor was a trifle mild for me but it was one hell of a great piece of meat. When Dane Scott was added for dessert back at the hotel it was all together a perfect meal and a perfect evening.

[TotallyOz]

My family is full of vegetarians. They have been trying to get me over to the dark side for years. I have done it for a few weeks at a time but never lasted. Perhaps it is time to try again.

[Lucky]

Comparing Dane Scott to a prime rib, hmmm. I had heard he was tasty. For me, the best beef is grass fed. In Argentina, good beef is common and cheap. we had dinners at the best restaurants for $60 for two. And since I grew up on midwestern beef, I can never become a vegetarian.

[Guest epigonos]

Lucky although I grew up here in Southern California I agree with you completely. I find it totally impossible to even consider the idea of becoming a vegetarian. My idea of a perfect death is having a massive heart attack at age 95 while eating a blood rare steak with an attractive escort in attendance with whom I had planned to play after dinner.

[Guest twinklover]

First Lucky tells me I shouldn't sit on the BART trains because of the fecal matter (remember that thread and the other it spawned mentioning "stoolmeter" xray glasses ). Now I learn from Lucky that I shouldn't eat U.S. meat because of the drug-resistant bacteria.

What's next? I should refrain from kissing boys because who knows where their mouths have been and what's in there now? http://infectiousdiseases.about.com/od/respiratoryinfections/a/kissing.htm

[Guest Conway]

I would rather die of an drug resistant bacteria derived from meat than live forever eating vegetables only.

Tequila endangers me also in a different way. It makes me stupid horny and puts me in danger of being killed by strangers in bars that I take home. I'm not planning to stop drinking it either.

[Guest zipperzone]

Are all of you suggesting that I avoid Tube Steak? How dull would that be........

[Lucky]

I would rather die of an drug resistant bacteria derived from meat than live forever eating vegetables only.

Tequila endangers me also in a different way. It makes me stupid horny and puts me in danger of being killed by strangers in bars that I take home. I'm not planning to stop drinking it either.

I am all in favor of people making their own choices, but we do need to know what risk we take when we take it. If I had known that kissing can pass germs, why, I might have never paid it any attention.