Eating To Get Sick

The Consumer Reports magazine for Feb 2014 has an article in it that blows my mind. Here's the cover:

 "How to protect yourself" is a phrase I associate with attacks by muggers, rapists, and thieves, not with something I choose to put in my mouth.

I remember when I used to buy chicken for my family. It felt good. It felt healthy. It made me feel satisfied that I was cooking healthy delicious meals for my growing family. I remember standing in front of the meat counter looking for the 'best' appearing meat, one that didn't have any discolorations or peculiar looking areas. Never did I dream that I was possibly introducing deadly bacteria into my children and husband's mouths. That was in the '80's and it's gotten much worse.

According to the article, 48 million people get sick every year from eating chicken tainted with Salmonella, campylobacter, E. coli, and other contaminants; "more deaths were attributed to poultry than to any other commodity" during the analysis from 1998 to 2008. How can this be?

It be because "more than half contained fecal contaminants"... "and about half of them harbored at least one bacterium that was resistant to three or more commonly prescribed antibiotics." This has led to 23,000 deaths per year. 23,000 deaths per year? The number of motor vehicle traffic deaths last year was 33,687 (from CDC) and the number of deaths due to cancer was 580,350 (American Cancer Society.) THERE ARE PEOPLE I LOVE EATING THIS. DOES THIS NOT FREAK YOU OUT? The article highlighted a 51 year old healthy man who was horribly sickened by tainted chicken. Happily he did not die, but 23,000 other people did last year alone.

(Click photo to enlarge for easier reading.) Bacteria can live on surfaces for hours and even for days. Every one of the four major brands they tested contained worrisome amounts of bacteria, even the chicken breasts labeled "no antibiotics" or "organic".

How does all of that contamination make its way into those nicely packaged chicken breasts displayed at your store? The bacteria that is normally in the intestinal tracts of chickens is transferred to the meat during the slaughtering process. "Or if a chicken living in cramped conditions regularly comes into contact with feces the bacteria can cling to its skin and make their way onto your dinner plate." Eew. 

 So called "cage free" chickens:

A 2010 study led by the CDC found that 13% of kids riding in grocery store shopping carts were exposed to raw meat products. And the Consumer Reports tests did not find any brands or types of chicken parts that had less bacteria than the others, so there's no 'better' chicken to buy.

About 80% of all antibiotics sold in the US each year are used in animal production. As if that weren't bad enough antibiotics NOT used in animal production can still become ineffective due to their position within a 'family' of antibiotics, in other words, bacteria become resistant to antibiotics not even used in animal production.

"And if antibiotic-resistant bacteria continue their scary spread, they could lead to deadly infections after routine surgery or even a seemingly innocuous cut because the drugs that doctors prescibe will have lost their effectiveness." Holy s**t.

The end of the article discusses what needs to happen to make chicken safer. Of course to my way of thinking people should quit eating it at all. It's a cruel industry. Male chicks are literally thrown away, dumped into grinders while still alive. Layers are kept awake 24 hours a day with artificial light to stress them into laying more eggs. Meat hens are forced to grow so fast they break their legs because of their own obesity. Viewing the slaughter process will give you nightmares.

But for those of you who don't care about the compassion factor I still think a boycott is in order. You know our industries respond only to the bottom line - their wallets. Added bonus? You won't end up the hospital with intense abdominal pain, vomiting, puking your guts out.

(credit: text and pics liberally taken from Consumer Reports issue February 2014.)