High rates of bacteria found in ground beef
By Carina Storrs, CNN
Every time you eat a burger, you could be getting a side of bacteria with it. Most packages of ground beef in the grocery store contain at least one type of bacteria that could make you sick, according to a survey by Consumer Reports.
Researchers looked at 300 samples of ground beef from grocery stores in 26 cities across the United States. They included a range of leanness and cuts, from sirloin to chuck. About 40 percent of the packages bore labels stating they were “organic” or that the cows had been grass-fed or had not been given antibiotics.
The Consumer Reports team looked for five types of bacteria that have been found on beef, including E. coli O157, a strain that causes bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain and has been linked with the highest number of outbreaks of foodborne illnesses from beef.