Samples of pig meat were taken from grocery stores in six U.S. cities and were tested for various bacterias and drugs. Bacteria found in over 80% of the samples were resistant to antibiotics used to treat people. Further 20% of the products tested had a growth hormone, ractopamine, present. Though the levels were low enough to be legal, this product has been banned for human health concerns in China, the European Union, and Taiwan.

Article Highlights:

• “Yersinia enterocolitica was in 69 percent of the tested pork samples. It infects about 100,000 Americans a year, especially children. We found salmonella, staphylococcus aureus, or listeria monocytogenes, more common causes of foodborne illness, in 3 to 7 percent of samples. And 11 percent harbored enterococcus, which can indicate fecal contamination and can cause problems such as urinary-tract infections.”
• “Some of the bacteria we found were resistant to multiple drugs or classes of drugs. That’s worrisome, because if those bugs make you sick, your doctor may need to prescribe more powerful (and expensive) antibiotics.”
• “Ground pork was more likely than pork chops to harbor pathogens. That’s to be expected, since grinding meat provides another opportunity for contamination.”
• “Some antibiotic claims you’ll see on packaging are misleading. And a “no hormones added” claim might be true but is meaningless, because hormones aren’t allowed in pork production.”