While perusing the web this morning, I came across an article on Yahoo named “The 10 Dirtiest Foods You’re Eating. The title alone would spark interest in us all right? They asked Men’s Health contributor Jim Gorman to help them identify the 10 dirtiest foods we put on our plates. The second one listed was ground beef, here’s what they had to say:
The dirt: When USDA inspectors last tested hamburger meat, they looked at 563 sources nationwide and discovered Clostridium perfringens in 53 percent of the batches, Staphylococcus in 30 percent, and Listeria monocytogenes in 12 percent. Interestingly, the USDA found no trace of Escherichia coli 0157:H7, a.k.a. E. coli, one of the desperadoes of foodborne illness. Despite this finding, if slaughterhouse safeguards fail (and they sometimes do), E. coli could potentially pop up in your next patty.
At the supermarket: ”Find a grocery store that sells irradiated ground beef,” says Donald W. Schaffner, Ph.D., an extension specialist in food science at Rutgers University. The package will bear the words “treated by irradiation.” Schaffner gives the safety of the treatment a glowing review: “The amount of induced radioactivity is 200,000 times smaller than the level of radioactivity naturally present in all foods.”
At home: Add fresh oregano to your burgers and meat loaf. When researchers at Kansas State University mixed a variety of common household spices into ground beef to test their antibacterial properties, oregano tested as one of the best at wiping out E. coli. Use at least 1 tablespoon per pound of meat. Just as important, flatten your patties—thick burgers will char on the outside before the interior reaches the required 160°F.
Interesting! Oregano wiping out E. coli? Haven’t we been saying this all along? The essential oils of naturally growing herbs and plants can wipe out bacteria and harmful germs without the use of toxic man-made chemicals. We won’t use the words “disinfect” or “sanitize” or the EPA will be looking for us to register nature as a pesticide, but you get the idea. Now if oregano can wipe out this bacteria in the foods we eat, surely its safe enough to dilute and spray on our countertops. Maybe they are finally getting it!
