Posted on 02/03/2016 3:00:03 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
In the aftermath of an E. coli outbreak at Chipotle that sickened dozens of people across the United States last fall and led to an overhaul of the company's food safety practices, Americans reacted by avoiding the beloved fast-food chain. Restaurants that once sported long lines were suddenly empty, a phenomenon that was almost surely happening nationwide.
The risks, in other words, were simply too great in people's minds for them to continue frequenting the Mexican-inspired favorite, because Chipotle had a food safety problem.
But the outrage was at least partly misplaced, according to Bill Marler, a lawyer specializing in food-borne illness. The outbreak, he says, was less of an anomaly specific to the chain than a symptom of the American food system, which isn't as safe as it could be and really should be.
Marler, who has been involved in many high-profile outbreaks over the past 30 years, including the 1993 E. coli outbreak at Jack in the Box, which killed several children and forced the government to impose zero tolerance for the presence of the pathogen in food, says that problems such as the one at Chipotle are far more common than most people realize. ~snip~ In 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, more than 8,000 food products were recalled by the Food and Drug Administration, and nearly 100 were recalled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The problem touches organic foods, too.
~snip~
In a recent piece, published in Bottom Line Health, he lists six foods he no longer eats, because he believes the risk of eating them is simply too large. The list includes raw oysters and other raw shellfish, raw or under-cooked eggs, meat that isn't well-done, unpasteurized milk and juice, and raw sprouts.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I’d as soon eat shoe leather as a well-done steak. I like my eggs scrambled because I’m too lazy to cook them with a runny yolk...but an over-cooked egg is an atrocity.
I’m 57. Been taking chances for years, and I guess I’ll just continue living (and eating) dangerously!
:>)
Never got sick from it, was the perfect recipe after closing down the local bar at 4 AM. lol
I was introduced to it during the summer of '79, one of the finest summers of my life.
I’ve had genuine food poisoning twice. Both times in third world first class hotels after eating “safe” western style cooked food. Neither time from anything truly nasty like flesh eating Vibrio Vulnificus in raw oysters, but it was still memorably awful. You not only think you’re going to die you hope it happens as quickly as possible. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to start ruining good steaks by cooking them to well done leather or turn eggs into flavorless rubber drink coasters. Even Steak Tartare in France or Fugu Sashimi in Japan are still on my personal menu. They’re worth the risk. But Chipotle? Why bother?
Steak isn't so much an issue, because most of the food-borne stuff there is on the surface due to poor sanitation processes. If you cook the outside, the risks of eating e-coli or other contaminating bugs are low. Hamburger, which is ground and has thousands of surfaces, should be cooked thoroughly, unless you know it was prepared in a clean, bug-free facility. Chicken and pork carry things within the meat/blood, and should be cooked to proper temperatures.
Runny yolks? Well, that's just how they're supposed to be in fried eggs.
I initially misread your post as saying “eggs over nasty”! LOL
If I saw an irradiated and a non-irradiated pack of hamburger side by side on the supermarket shelf, I would buy the irradiated one.
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Absolutely right ,, not only safer but allows you to enjoy foods without overcooking and ruining the flavors. I always thought there was a lot to gain by marketing such foods... Imagine going to Burger King and getting a nice MEDIUM burger again.
I have a brother who likes his eggs burnt. That’s basically describes my eggs. ;-)
Go to that site I posted for eggs. Use the “Egg calculator”, and round up to the nearest 15 seconds. Try eggs this weekend for breakfast. You will be amazed.
Make Eggs Benedict. http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/04/foolproof-2-minute-hollandaise-recipe.html , but the night before pasteurize the eggs.
(Fill and preheat the Sous Vide water oven to 135F/57C. Mark the eggs to be pasteurized with a P or some other moniker with a water proof marker. Gently drop the eggs, in their shells (not vacuum sealed), into the water oven to cook for 2 hours.)
What kind of grinder do you have?
I have a 1 HP LEM: http://www.lemproducts.com/product/improved-big-bite-grinder-22/butcher-meat-grinders, and this stuffer: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200425065_200425065 . Some of the sausages I make require a very rough grind, so packing them with the grinder is not an option.
Built a cold smoker earlier this year. Have a Webber Smokey Joe as my smoke generator, and an aquarium pump with a venturi right above the smoke chamber. Feed it to my egg through iron pipe. If you ever want to try cold smoking talk to me. I figured out how to build a creosote trap using a bucket, water, ice, a T coupler, and 20 inches of iron pipe. Took some trail and error to get it right. Ruined like 10 blocks of cheese before I got the design right, but got it perfect now. (The blocks of cheese would numb ur tongue)
Did my first scratch bacon about a month ago. Dont think I can ever go back to store bought bacon. Unbelievable flavor, and since you can pick your pork belly, none of the supper fatty almost meatless junk in stores.
Me too. Have eaten tons over the years; no problems.
Actually the USDA has revised pork safe temp standards. Ground Pork is 160 just like hamburger, but roasts, chops, etc is 145F, with a beautiful pink center.
“Safe Cooking
For safety, the USDA recommends cooking ground pork patties and ground pork mixtures such as meat loaf to 160 °F. Cook all organ and variety meats (such as heart, kidney, liver, tongue, and chitterlings) to 160 °F.
Cook all raw pork steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145 °F as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming. For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook meat to higher temperatures.”
You can have my share. Had some once and decided I did not like the taste nor consistency of curdled snot. :)
Thanks for the update on the pork temps.
When I have guests, I still pull at 155F. Carryover takes it to 160. Most people freak out on medium rare pork. When it is just me and the wife, I pull at 140, and carryover takes it to 145. Had to show her on the USDA website before she would try it, but now it is her preferred doneness. Heck Prosciutto is never over room temperature, and we ALL love that. ;-)
I always eat rare steak. If I die from eating steak, I would say I had a good life. Also, I prefer eggs with runny yolks. Life is too short to worry about this stuff.”
Same here and never get sick from that. I do have problems eating salads in cafes in Eastern Washington where there is a high percentage of Mexican immigrants. No more uncooked veggies on the eastern side of Washington for me.
I love raw oysters followed by a medium rare filet mignon, all washed down by a nice red wine. Let’s not get carried away with these food scares.”
Years ago tests showed that if three people went out to eat and ate tainted seafood or salad and one person drank no alcohol, one drank hard liquor and one drank wine, the nondrinker would become very ill, the hard liquor drinker would become slightly ill and the wine drink would not become ill at all.
Although I believe that Chipotle does serve wine - I am not sure having only been there once - that it is in Seattle mostly a lunch place where folks usually do not linger over entertaining beverages, that folks may more likely become sick there.
Also, notice how the food illnesses always affect children, pregnant women and the elderly more than others. Ergo,those groups less likely to imbibe.
To which chemicals the feces in question break down over time, anyway. Much less efficient than straight to the chemicals.
Thanks for all the great info. My Sous Vide machine requires a minimum of 20 gallons so I’m not likely to start it up for a few eggs...it is great for large roasts and racks of ribs.
My grinder is petite and has virtually zero waste: http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Grinder-Mincer-Pasta-Maker/dp/B0002I5QHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454531967&sr=8-1&keywords=meat+grinder+plastic
I have a fairly expensive ceramic grill that I do 24 hour smokes with for pork shoulder and the like. It is also wonderful for 500 degree pizzas, 650 degree steak sears and 350 degree roasts. A great tool.
Bon Appetite!
The secret to not having waste with a large grinder is stale bread. Virtually no waste. Maybe an ounce. Just feed the bread down the chute and nothing left in the grinder. Kill it when you see any bread emerging.
Agree on the Kamado style grills. Ever looked into the temp controllers? I have an IQ110 model. Set the charcoal up in a ring with a can of sand in the middle, and have a half brick or some other fire break, light one end of the “snake”, set the temp and walk away. At 200 F 24 hours later I am a bit past half way through the ring.
What charcoal have you had the best luck with? I can only seem to get Cowboy, Kroger and Royal Oak in lump, and in the no filler & no anthracite briquettes, Stubs.
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