How Might we Eliminate This Problem of Contaminated Beef, in Supermarkets

How Might we Eliminate This 


Problem of Contaminated 


Beef, in Supermarkets

REMEMBER WHAT IS TRUE FOR HAMBURGER IS TRUE OF ALL GROUND BEEF AND ALL OTHER MEAT AND MEAT PRODUCTS.

The answer is very simple: go back to Canadian and locally owned retailers who actually care about the consumer.    Canadians need to realise, the source of the problem is not the meat, but the processing and handling methods, which are in use today. A butcher once said to a home economics teacher: "Do teach cooks that there are some good cuts of meat other than porterhouse” The customers of this meat dealer made it difficult for him to sell all parts of the animal. When he bought porterhouse or loin, he had to buy the whole hind quarter. For some cuts he had little demand.

          Now days, in the United States, and to supermarkets, most large hotels and restaurants in Canada, only loins or other whole sale cuts are sold. This means the institution has to buy only the cuts which sell. Special cuts are usually shipped to local stores. Because of this policy, beef is no longer freshly ground in store, but rather in the harder to control food processing plants.

          .The Federal labelling laws on fat content still apply. So at least a customer has some idea of where the meat is coming from and exactly when it was ground. Canada must also tighten laws as to re-cutting, re-fluffing, and re- packaging meat, and require that all imported meats or ground products containing previously frozen  or meats of foreign origin be labelled as such. Research has more than proven that the boxes and containers used for all frozen food products greatly contribute to contamination.

          There must also be strict government inspection, not only as to meat quality, but also to bacterial and other chemical content, of all imported meats and especially any thing coming up into this country from the United States.

          Clear-wrap packages, give you more of a visual choice, but as previously explained, are still no indication of freshness or quality. The meat should be red, with fat uniformly mixed. Fresh ground beef can be stored only in the coldest part of your refrigerator and should be used or frozen within two days.

          To freeze ground beef, remove from market packaging and divide into specific recipe portions Wrap in plastic freezer wrap, waxed paper, or foil and then place in airtight, sealed, plastic, freezer bags. Freeze up to three months only.

          When buying packaged ground beef, be sure there are no tears in the packaging and always check the expiration date. Bulk ground beef is now often sold in round, sausage like, chub rolls, vacuum-packed in a wrapper you cannot see through. Don't buy it. With this type of packaging you’re completely at the mercy of the market, since you cannot see the meat to make any visual judgements, and you know it can not be fresh. But since it is usually lower priced, if you do decide to buy some, pay attention to the expiration date(if there is one on the original packaging) and cross your fingers.

          Since E coli 0157:H7 is found in the intestines of animals(ie. in the feces): if all animals were thoroughly washed, just before slaughter, and immediately after evisceration and skinning, there would be little or no chance of this contamination.