Summary of Chapter 9

By: Maria Mehringer and Kyle Schneider

• Lee Hardin bought frozen patties from Hudson Foods and obtained a virus. He went to the doctor and found out he had E-coli. They traced the infection back to Hudson Foods where they recalled the meat. Meat packing and processing now days is not safe.

• Most meat is contaminated with some virus because cows that appear healthy are sick with E-coli which spread to other cows and eventually to people. Hamburgers used to be for the poor and rarely anyone ate them until White Castle experimented and proved the beef was fresh. Hamburgers rose in popularity over the then favorite pork. Hamburgers are now known as the food of America.

• Jack in the Box sold undercooked meat which made hundreds sick and killed four. Most of these victims were children. Antibiotics do not help against E-coli infections. E-coli can cause permanent damage to the body such as strokes, kidney failure, hallucinations, and dementia. E-coli can live almost anywhere and is easy to transmit. Most common way to obtain E-coli is consuming undercooked ground beef.

• The cattle in feedlots are most susceptible to obtaining E-coli. Cattle are packed in the feedlots like sardines and if one cow has E-coli it does not take long for it to spread to the other cows. When the cattle is then sent to be slaughtered and processed and sent to restaurants all over the country, thousands of individuals will become ill with E-coli. Most restaurants’ contain meat from hundreds of different cattle.

• When Upton Sinclair’s book came out and was proven true, President Theodore Roosevelt called for inspection of all meat packing facilities. Most of the meat packing plants denied the problems existed. During the 1900’s programs were put in place to police meat packing and prevent outbreaks. Some programs began to fade as cutbacks in federal inspection were taking place. Political figures such as Mitch McConnell of Kentucky were playing key roles in efforts to implement science based food inspections.

• Once a restaurant pulls meat from the market it does not have to inform the public or health officials that a recall is taking place. While Clinton was president, he backed legislation to provide USDA authority to demand meat recalls and fine meatpackers. Most federal meatpackers opposed Clinton’s idea. USDA and meat packing industry do not focus on primary causes of infections but are thinking of exotic causes.

• Some of the questionable meat was purchased by the USDA and sold to school cafeterias across the country. Children were becoming ill from hamburgers at school. Meat packing plants in Dallas, Texas were tested positive for Salmonella. In 1900’s it was also proven that kitchen sinks hold more bacteria than toilets. Kitchens are not as safe as thought to be. When raw meat is brought into homes it is considered home owners responsibility to handle it with care.