Half of Meat Is Contaminated with Drug Resistant Bacteria: The Good News—and the Bad

There is good news hidden in the massive drug resistant bacterial contamination of meat. Most of us are not sick from it. However, what the USDA plans to do will destroy our ability to stay healthy.

by Heidi Stevenson

23 April 2011

The news that nearly half of American's meat and poultry is contaminated with drug resistant bacteria has certainly put fear into people—but is it really warranted? And why is that news being reported right now?

Why aren't most people dreadfully sick from all this contamination? The answer is quite simple. If we're reasonably healthy, we're unlikely to become victims of these infections. Yes, these infestations are drug-resistant. However, the fact is that, if they're found in meat now, then before they existed, nondrug resistant microbes must have already been rampant in our food. Most of us didn't get sick then, and most of us aren't getting sick now.

Of course, it does matter that the meat supply is so badly contaminated. Those who are susceptible get sick, and that's not fair. It also means that most of the cattle and poultry raised by Agribusiness in the US are not healthy. Ultimately, if the food we eat isn't healthy, then our own health will suffer. As we weaken, we become susceptible to a host of diseases—including the bacteria that's being sold along with the meat.

Pandora's Drug Resistance Genie Has Escaped

The simple fact is that Agribusiness and Big Medicine have released superbugs on the world, and there is no way to put them back in Pandora's box. So, it's time to take our health into our own hands—if we can wrest it away from a system that seems hell-bent on taking it away.

First, note that all the washing in the world is not going to eliminate all the bacteria from our foods, hands, knives, forks, or kitchen surfaces. The temperature of water, unless it's boiling, will not eliminate it all, either. You may get rid of some, but never all of it.

Typical advice now is to cook meats and dairy products to a fair-thee-well. That, of course, means that a large portion of the nutrients are destroyed, too. In an age when most foods are nutrient-poor, that's certainly not a solution. Besides, it still isn't going to eliminate all the bacteria that's passed by touching infected surfaces, including other people's skin.

It's interesting to note that one of the most important things we do, touch each other, is frequently being called a dangerous activity by the self-styled gurus of the modern medical system—you know, the ones who helped bring drug resistant diseases into our lives. The fact is that touching is one of the healthiest things we can do—and that's even more true when we're ill. We need human touch, and advice to stop touching each other is not conducive to good health.

Don't panic! The fact is that you have always been in contact with bacteria, both good and bad. As a very dominant rule, the good beats out the bad, and we stay healthy. Nowhere is that more obviously true than in those scary news reports about half our meat supply being contaminated with drug resistant bacteria.

The point is that we need to step back a moment and ask what the real issues are. Should we be raising food animals through such cruel means? It makes their lives pure misery, from birth to death—and it makes the meat they provide sick. Neither one should be acceptable to us.

How the USDA & Industry Plan to "Solve" This Problem

Note that all this contaminated meat is not being recalled. Yet, the USDA's plan to resolve the problem of contaminated meat is to hold it until test results are returned. As it stands now, meat is sold as soon as the samples are taken, and if a problem is found, it's recalled.⁽¹⁾ Obviously, that's not a good solution. But, when we now know that nearly half our meat supply is contaminated and stays on the market, how much difference will it make? And how much concern has the USDA really had about it all along?

Obviously, there's another reason for the proposal, and you don't need to look far to find it. As explained in USDA Meat Testing Plan Will Not Curb Food-Borne Illness—But It Will Curb Local & Organic Meat, the real target is small and organic meat producers, the farmers who raise meat to healthy standards that don't require massive governmental testing and interference. Many of them, the husbanders of healthy animals that provide healthy and nutritious meat, will be unable to manage the extra costs involved&mash;and that is the real goal.

Another result is that we will be deprived of fresh meat. It will all be held a couple of days until the lab results are in. That is yet another strike against our ability to maintain our health.

The real reason for the recent mass coverage of the contaminated meat supply is to help push the USDA's plans through. It's fear mongering intended to scare people into supporting the very thing that will worsen the problem.

The real solution is to end factory farming of every kind, including meats, poultry, vegetables, and fruits. Until we do, we're condemning ourselves to constantly deteriorating health. The simple fact is that factory farming creates sick food, and sick food makes people sick.

Drug resistant microbes are merely the contaminated icing on a poisoned cake.

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