Drug-Resistant Bacteria Found in Half of U.S. Meat

[FastTadpole]

How much of this is the sensational fear based media and how much is a warning by legit scientific observation is really subjective but there's a canary in the mineshaft that's been squacking for quite some time now, not to be ignored. How to deal with it though?

Quote:Drug-resistant bacteria found in half of U.S. meat
Study finds Staphylococcus aureus in 47% of beef, pork and poultry samples in U.S. supermarkets
April 15th, 2011
CBS News

A new study finds that much of meat and poultry sold in supermarkets is contaminated with drug-resistant staph bacteria.

Researchers bought beef, chicken, pork, and turkey in five U.S. cities and found that nearly half of the meat sampled -- 47 percent -- contained drug resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus.

The "staph" bacteria is linked to a range of health problems from rashes and respiratory ailments to potentially fatal illnesses such as sepsis and endocarditis. Due to overexposure, staph bacteria have grown resistant to an ever-widening range of the antibiotic drugs used to fight them; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA has become a deadly scourge in U.S. hospitals.

But there is perhaps no greater contributor to the rise of drug-resistant staphs than the meat industry, where animals are preemptively treated with a range of antibiotics.

The April 15 study in the medical journal "Clinical Infectious Diseases" was conducted by Translational Genomics Research Institute.

Among the staph-contaminated samples, more than half were resistant to at least three types of antibiotics.

Experts note that staph bacteria can be killed by thoroughly cooking meat, but improper handling and cross-contamination -- such as by reusing a cutting board or knife that has come in contact with the raw meat -- can still lead to infections.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/1...4211.shtml

Try mixed farming and/or a permaculture model. The viral monoculture factory model has proven to be unmanageable no matter what antibiotics, hormones, fertilizers, pesticides and GMOs. The increased yields and efficiency, in a lot of cases, for animal and crops if they appear are short lived, deplete soil and harbour disease.

Technology isn't all bad but should be chosen wisely and with a bit more respect for the soil, plants and animals. There is being a steward in utilizing the land and life resources and then there is playing God. There is a fine line to navigate; lest we bet a big stack of chips and lose it all.

For now though, let's be sure to cook our meat thoroughly to reduce risk of super bacterial infection. A recall would be a mistake at this point with this manufactured scarcity already brought about by regulation and other measures to take food off the table in one way or another, founded and unfounded in the recent past.

Anyone wanting to look into this study more is encouraged to fact check with the Translational Genomics Research Institute; an NPO which produced this article:

Dare to compare the reports.. and notice a glaring fact checking error spewed by the CBS headline.

Quote:Nationwide study finds U.S. meat and poultry is widely contaminated
Multi-drug-resistant Staph found in nearly 1 in 4 samples, review shows

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — April 15, 2011 — Drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria linked to a wide range of human diseases, are present in meat and poultry from U.S. grocery stores at unexpectedly high rates, according to a nationwide study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

Nearly half of the meat and poultry samples — 47 percent — were contaminated with S. aureus, and more than half of those bacteria — 52 percent — were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics, according to the study published today in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

This is the first national assessment of antibiotic resistant S. aureus in the U.S. food supply. And, DNA testing suggests that the food animals themselves were the major source of contamination.

Although Staph should be killed with proper cooking, it may still pose a risk to consumers through improper food handling and cross-contamination in the kitchen.

Researchers collected and analyzed 136 samples — covering 80 brands — of beef, chicken, pork and turkey from 26 retail grocery stores in five U.S. cities: Los Angeles, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Flagstaff and Washington, D.C.

“For the first time, we know how much of our meat and poultry is contaminated with antibiotic-resistant Staph, and it is substantial,” said Lance B. Price, Ph.D., senior author of the study and Director of TGen’s Center for Food Microbiology and Environmental Health.

“The fact that drug-resistant S. aureus was so prevalent, and likely came from the food animals themselves, is troubling, and demands attention to how antibiotics are used in food-animal production today,” Dr. Price said.

Densely-stocked industrial farms, where food animals are steadily fed low doses of antibiotics, are ideal breeding grounds for drug-resistant bacteria that move from animals to humans, the report says.

“Antibiotics are the most important drugs that we have to treat Staph infections; but when Staph are resistant to three, four, five or even nine different antibiotics — like we saw in this study — that leaves physicians few options,” Dr. Price said.

“The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria — including Staph — remains a major challenge in clinical medicine,” said Paul S. Keim, Ph.D., Director of TGen’s Pathogen Genomics Division and Director of the Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics at Northern Arizona University (NAU).

“This study shows that much of our meat and poultry is contaminated with multidrug-resistant Staph. Now we need to determine what this means in terms of risk to the consumer,” said Dr. Keim, a co-author of the paper.

The U.S. government routinely surveys retail meat and poultry for four types of drug-resistant bacteria, but S. aureus is not among them. The paper suggests that a more comprehensive inspection program is needed.

S. aureus can cause a range of illnesses from minor skin infections to life-threatening diseases, such as pneumonia, endocarditis and sepsis.

The study was supported through a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts as part of The Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming.

http://www.tgen.org/news/index.cfm?newsid=1948

I'd like to see the actual report and source data though.

Interesting to see the long arm of the Pew Charitable Trusts involved in funding this one as well who was also involved in the recent lobby for Net Neutrality to end around congress in the FCC coup.

The real power is shifting further in the realm of committees, NGOs and international groups not and corporations. Congress and Parliament are helping them right along in doing it too. Giving power to the Federal Reserve, The FDA and the FCC; appointing a gaggle of Tsars under Obama. Deferring decisions such as the declaration of War to a United Nations vote.

Health Canada being the path of least resistance up north here especially since being granted extraordinary powers in C-36 the CONsumer Product Safety Act.

The US has theirs food/product regulation and monitoring with the FDA being given more power in various bills such as S510.

It's a Coup that has been going on too long and it's reaching a head in where the people's voice will shift gears from muffled to gagged to de-tongued in quick procession.

Watch this story it'll grow legs with the research bit bought and paid for, the political climate, the health and safety movement at the current point.

Now that they are working on the Problem expect the massaging of a Reaction by the blatant arms' length spin by the media and usher in a 1000+ page Solution with 6 hours to read it.

[rsol]

so if i eat that my drugs wont work?? nawww no fair!

[FastTadpole]

Top 2 stories from NaturalNews (Truth Publishing LLC based in Taiwan) today in the fake alt-media spin machine.

Quote:US meat and poultry widely contaminated with bacteria including superbugs
(NaturalNews) How would you like a big, juicy burger loaded with onions, mustard, ketchup -- and a big helping of drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), a bacteria linked to a wide range of human diseases? If you find that dish stomach-churning...

Quote: Groups, individuals petition NRC to suspend all nuclear reactor licensing in wake of Fukushima disaster
(NaturalNews) The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster has sparked an uprising against nuclear energy production due to concerns about its safety. Recently, 45 groups and individuals from across the US banded together to ask that the US Nuclear Regulatory...

Feeding you fear, sensationalizing, hitting on every anti-US sentiment and hijacking well intentioned motives to the useless abyss of petition signing and/or globalist agendas.