Wednesday, October 3, 2012

E coli Found in Beef Products

    The huge XL beef processing plant at Brooks Alberta is suspected of distributing   products contaminated with e coli. XL processes 1/3 of all beef in Canada and distributes to all provinces and states. They kill 2500 animals per day. The plant has been shut down since Sept. 28. Modern industrial meat processing is an amazing operation. Much is done mechanically. They have a huge water supply. There are labs that check meat and the plant. However , these plants seem to run into problems with E. coli contamination from time to time. What's going on?

     About a dozen people in Alberta and Saskatchewan have e coli and some has been traced back to the plant in Brooks. I have not heard of other people with E. coli. Young people and elderly people are more susceptible to the most harm from E. coli.

     About 1500 different products have been recalled because of possibilities of being contaminated with E. coli.

     The Canadian Food Inspection Agency(CFIA) is working on this problem and trying to find a solution.

     A few years ago meat inspectors were cut down to a very low level and the plants were expected to do their own testing.

    On the farm my Dad butchered a beef and hog each year. The beef was usually a cull in somewhat poor condition and the hog was a sow. Dad maybe had one pail of water and that was to wash bone sawdust from the cavity when the carcuss was halved. We never had a problem with E. coli and neither did our neighbors.

    I did some travelling with aboriginals. When a moose or caribou was taken it was butchered on location. First, the tongue was taken out and cut into strips. The strips were put on sticks beside the fire so that they could cook. Tongue done this way is absolutely delicious. Other butchering continued. By the time the tongue was cooked the heart was cut in strips and put on the fire. We ate and had tea. By the time the butchering was done so was the heart and we ate again. If they camped in the location they would put strips of meat over poles and dry it. Otherwise it was put in the canoe to take back to the settlement for processing. This type of processing did not run into E. coli problems.

      Inuit traditionally ate raw whale and seal. I tried the raw arctic char and it's just like candy. Again no problems with e coli. 

     So what gives in the large plants.? Are they relying too much on technology? Do they not know how to butcher? Are cattlemen using procedures that cause the animals to have higher e coli counts in their system?  In the above examples of farmers and aboriginals, they all knew to be extremely careful and not allow entrails to be opened and spill contents. 

     Since we depend on the large industrial plants for our beef, I am worried. Too many times these plants have problems with E. coli. People can become seriously ill with e coli and deaths can also take place. 

26 comments:

  1. i always find it so puzzling when things like lettuce or melons carry e.coli. i can understand meat and meat products, but fresh vegetables always puzzle me.

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    1. They really have to mess up to get E. coli on vegetables and that's hard to understand.

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  2. We're currently having similar problems with peanut butter. I have no idea how this is possible.

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  3. Texs girl has a point I wondered too. Fresh veggies. I do think the bactria and or germs are much much stronger than they were way back. Its almost proven in some cases where they mutate and do become so strong that its hard to get rid of .
    Great blog and I have been following this story as well.

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    1. I think we help these critters to become stronger by some of the processes we use.

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  4. We passed a few feedlots this past summer and the cows were standing in piles four feet high of cow crap and urine, it made me ill and disgusted to see these animals in such poor holding areas before going to the slaughterhouse. So glad I quit eating beef.

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    1. As a result of these conditions the animals receive antibiotics daily so the meat becomes more iffy for consumption.

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  5. It could be that it was always there. I suspect in this day of over cleanliness humans are losing resistance to naturally occurring bugs.
    I suspect that if I had a trip round that plant I'd be immune....I wouldn't be eating it's products.
    It's illegal to kill on farms here. They also hot wash carcasses which can't be a good idea.

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    1. I agree that we are maybe not as exposed as we used to be and that is to our detriment.
      I like how you would get immunity. I think most people would absolutely freak if they saw one of those plants in operation.

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  6. Somewhere I read that part of the problem is the runoff including human waste (yech) that has caused smoe of the produce problems, but I agree, Red, it does make you wonder why we have these problems now? Maybe cutting back on people and processes makes things sloppy. Does make you worry though...

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    1. Yes I think the handling so much bey machines could cause some difficulties. You also hit the nail on the head when you suggest cheaping out and using less people.

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  7. I cringed when I read this, Red, not being a meat eater for so many years. But I suspect that mechanization must be a factor in e.col contamination. I am with Tex: how does it happen with vegetables?

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    1. With veggies, they use a wild assortment of materials to enrich soil.

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  8. I think it is the volume. They cannot insure cleanliness when moving so much product through.

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    1. Volume and your key word..rapid movement.

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  9. Tough to hear this, but they are producing too fast and one slip can create a huge problem

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    1. One slip and it contaminates a lot of product coming after.

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  10. You always tell amazing personal stories. I love them.
    Regarding the contamination, it's so difficult to figure it out. We know that e-coli is everywhere, but what can they be doing wrong?
    Part of it, is feeding them contaminated food, too. It is frightening.

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    1. There is possibility for contamination at many stages. Feedlots have disgusting conditions for the animals to live in.

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  11. Each time I hear of an e-coli outbreak I want to stop eating meat. :) That probably won't happen.
    I understand there is a vaccine for cattle manufactured there in Canada but it isn't widely used because of the expense.
    The number one priority is cleanliness - in the field and in the factories.
    One must remember that up until the 70's or so meat production was done on a regional basis and there were more butchers in individual stores. Meat wasn't shipped cross country as much. There was far less chances of cross contamination of the beef. Today with mass production the chances are greater.

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  12. Red you bring up a good point, if you ever find an answer to this please let us know.

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  13. Why is it that you take your cow to the local Butcher and have him kill/process it, pack it for you and hand it back and NO ONE GETS SICK? My Father also prepared and packed anything he hunted and no one got sick? Less rules in big plants, NEGLECT, CUTBACKS, no one is real careful and yet hundreds of pounds of meat get delivered on time possible infected or not, so it can be thrown out because people are not buying the way they used to. I see tons of meat and fish thrown out at grocery stores, that gets old and finally goes to ?? the dump, where rats sit waiting for those lucious pounds called Olde Meat. Great post Red, we too have been following this outbreak and it is down right disgusting!

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  14. Very well written!!!

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
    http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com

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  15. I just think it's a whole bunch of things: greed, underpaid workers, too many cows from too many places, unhappy cows who are mistreated, the list goes on. We buy all our meat (and I don't eat a whole lot of it) from local farmers now. My chickens come from my friend across the street. I'm lucky to live on a farm in a rural area where I know people and can how things are done. My friend's chickens are butchered on her farm by a guy who goes from farm to farm to do that.

    I would rather eat less (or no) meat and only buy stuff from farmers I know, preferably organic. Costs more but it's worth it!

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  16. interesting. I have no idea about any of this..kind of just blindly trust the food I buy and eat is safe.

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