High bacteria levels in meat at U.S. stores
April 16, 2011
Researchers have found high levels of bacteria in meat commonly found on U.S. grocery store shelves, with more than half of the bacteria resistant to multiple types of antibiotics, according to a study released on Friday.
While the meat commonly found in grocery stores is still safe to eat, consumers should take precautions especially in handling and cooking, the chief researcher for the study said.
The study by the Arizona-based Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen, or TGRI) examined 136 meat samples from 26 grocery stores in Illinois, Florida, California, Arizona and Washington D.C.
Dr. Lance Price, the head researcher on the study, said high levels of Staphylococcus aureus (S.Aureus) bacteria were found in the meat.
"Staph causes hundreds of thousands of infections in the United States every year," Price said in an interview. "It causes a whole slew of infections ranging from skin infections to really bad respiratory infections like pneumonia."
Staph infections also kill more people in the United States each year than HIV, he said.
A spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration said that the agency was aware of the TGen findings, and similar studies of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in meats, and was working with the U.S. Agriculture Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the causes and effects.

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Posted by Ken at 12:00 AM