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Nationwide Study Finds U.S. Meat And Poultry Is Widely Contaminated

Summary By: | Published: May 11, 2011
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This study of meat samples within 26 U.S. grocery stores has found that nearly half of them were contaminated with Staph and many were found to be antibiotic resistant as well.

The analysis of 136 samples of beef, chicken, turkey and pork from 26 grocery stores within five major U.S. cities found that nearly half were contaminated with Staph, and more than half of these bacteria were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics.

Samples of beef, chicken, pork, and turkey from 80 different brands found in 26 retail grocery stores from Los Angeles, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Flagstaff, and Washington D.C. exhibited a significant degree of contamination with strains of Staphylococcus aureus, with many exhibiting antibiotic resistance as well. Staph may be killed with proper cooking, but its presence still poses considerable risk to consumers. DNA testing shows that the likely source of contamination was from the animal themselves; this can occur in densely-stocked industrial farms where the animals are constantly fed low doses of antibiotics.

Government inspections of meat and poultry are routine for four types of drug-resistant bacteria, but the screenings do not include S. aureus, suggesting that consumers would benefit from additional screening for this strain.

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Citations:

Lance Price, et al., The Translational Genomics Research Institute, 2011 United States (National)

Tags:

Animals Used for Food Additives or Diseases English Human Health Chickens Cows Farm Animals

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