On Tuesday a new study from Consumer Reports on raw pork chops and ground pork found that 69 percent of the samples tested were contaminated with Yersinia enterocolitica, a lesser-known yet no less serious foodborne pathogen.
The tests also found Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes in 3 to 7 percent of samples, while 11 percent carried Enterococcus, which can cause urinary-tract infections.
But 69 percent for Yersinia enterocolitica, which causes fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, is frighteningly high. Additionally, some of the bacteria were found to be resistant to antibiotics, likely the result of "the frequent use of low-dose antibiotics in pork farming" which is "accelerating the growth of drug-resistant 'superbugs' that threaten human health."
Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), a vocal critic of agriculture's use of antibiotics, called the results "simply terrifying." In an official statement she said,
It's getting harder and harder for the food processing industry and the FDA to ignore the fact that the overuse of antibiotics in animals is threatening public health... Their half-measures and voluntary guidelines are no longer enough - we must act swiftly to reverse this public health crisis.
In response to this study, the USDA pointed to the low levels of Salmonella as evidence that pork processors are meeting federal food safety requirements. Okay... but what about the Yersinia results? According to Food Safety News,
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service does not test for Yersinia in its periodic baseline studies, which give the agency data on the prevalence of pathogens in different meat products. Since Consumer Reports found "very low" Salmonella contamination levels, the agency says, this indicates that the pork industry is adequately controlling pathogens.
Additionally, the USDA says the agency has focused its efforts on Salmonella because it's more resistant to heat than Yersinia, and that "lethality temperatures for Salmonella should effectively eliminate [Yersinia] in pork or other food products."
→ Read more:
• What's In That Pork? | ConsumerReports.org
• Consumer Reports Finds Most Pork Contaminated with Yersinia | Food Safety News
Related: Food Safety 101: Safe Temperatures for Poultry and Meat
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This is one of the reasons I buy my pork directly from the farm. It's all pastured, I know what they're being fed, and they don't get a butt-load of antibiotics. Also, it's the best bacon I have EVER tasted. Compared to this stuff, store-bacon is nauseating.
I think the fact that Salmonella has higher heat resistance than Yersinia, making most of this moot (assuming you cook and handle your meat properly), should be receiving greater emphasis here. This whole thing reads like its designed to induce a panic over something that isn't actually making many people sick. So yes, this just in, if you mishandle or misprepare your food, you might get sick. But the USDA guidelines are actually made by people who do know what they're doing, and if you stick to them, you'll be ok.
Yuck. I'll never eat raw pork again.
...and thus ends my short-lived love affair with country-style pork pate.
If this were really an issue, wouldn't we already be seeing a major outbreak of Yersinia infections?
@ny2midmo, but there are many situations in which one doesn't cook their own pork, but leaves that up to a restaurant, deli meat company, or a friend. Though yes, safe food handling is essential, being aware of risks and making choices to support lower risk foods (avoiding pork that is raised with antibiotics, opting only to eat that which we prepare ourselves, even knowing the source of our pork and the full handling from field to table) is wise. Certainly some folks are going to read this and panic, but others will just add it to the balance of their information and make more informed decisions (and hopefully get involved with food legislation).
You do realize it's fully cooked, right?
And...
Yersinia enterocolitica
Temperature range: 0-113ºC (32-113ºF)
They are also naturally immune to several common types of antibitoics due to lactamases and other items produced by the microbes.
How do you know we aren't experiencing Yersinia infections? Most people who get sick with "24-hour bugs" don't have a flu at all, but are actually experiencing food borne illness of some kind. After reading about pink slime, white slime, meat glue, antibiotic resistant food borne illness, and the like, I am more committed than ever to maintaining a healthy, plant-based diet. There is so much hidden from the consumer when it comes to factory farming. I convinced that there is no good that can come from raising and processing animals this way.
Anhhhh *insert obnoxious 'wrong answer' buzzer here* Percentages are relative...69%, in & of itself, is worthless info. One so-called 'expert' on the morning news delcared one would have to eat a ridiculous amount (something like 700 lbs per day for years) to ingest enough Y to have an effect on an otherwise healthy body. 'Course, I trust him JUST about as much as I trust those who coughed up the *69%* test results. Which is not at all, at all.
I don't pay any attention to the FEAR MONGERS, preferring instead to employ common sense. Bottom line is...there's no *truth* in the news and no news in the *Truth*. Most food born illnesses could be avoided with proper handling & preparation. I am careful but I flat out refuse to join the Paranoia Train. Living in fear is not truly living. One can't enjoy when one moves in fear.
Pasture fed is safer by a long shot but even then, there's the water supply to consider. Never mind what's in the ground, rainwater itself is contaminated these days. The science behind antibiotic-laced animal feed is legitimate but let's not overlook the fact that much [most?] resistance to antibiotics results from HUMANS who are so paranoid they run to the dr at every sneeze & demand an antibiotic when, truth is, they have a viral infection. And the doctors comply. Oh, and keep washing those hands in antibacterial soap, by all means.
p.s. this just in...there's NO SUCH THING as global warming
A 'bug' and a 'flu' are two different animals. It's like comparing apples to oranges. Not relevant except as it contributes to increased antibiotic resistance in humans.
@discerning- Last time I checked, this was not a debate board, or a political board. This is a place for adult, civilized discourse about food.
Precisely my point. So glad you agree :)