Study Finds, A Shocking Amount Of Salmonella and E. Coli On, and IN, Store-Bought Chicken, Turkey, Poultry, Chicken Parts (legs, thighs, and wings), Turkey Parts, and Skin-on and Skinless Chicken Breasts.

As is True of the E. Coli Contamination on and IN Beef and/or Other Canadian Food and Meat Products; (“DEEP BASTED" [a process that, like mechanical tenderizing, uses needles to inject additives and contaminants deep inside the product] turkey, MECHANICALLY TENDERIZED”-Including Fish, Poultry and Other Highly Processed Meat  Products).
Much of the Contamination is DELIBERATELY Injected Into These Products by the Manufacturers, Marketers, and/or Processors.

There are harmful bacteria crawling, or, more correctly, swimming, all over the chicken, meat and turkey products you are planning to cook with, according to eye-opening study by Canadian and by United States of The Americas based, Consumer Reports Magazine.

 The magazine tested for bacteria on more than 300 chicken breasts purchased from various retailers, including supermarkets and regionally owned grocery stores, in 26 states. The selection included products from national brands including Perdue, Tyson, Pilgrim's and Sanderson Farms, as well as “No-Brand” chicken, turkey, and meat products.

Consumers Reports magazine found that 97% of the breasts were tainted with at least one of six bacteria that CAUSE DEATH OR AT LEAST MAKE PEOPLE EXTREMELY ILL, including salmonella, campylobacter, and staphylococcus aurous (common causes of food poisoning); E. coli and enterococcus (which indicate faecal (SHIT)contamination); and klebsiella pneumoniae (a bug that can cause infections such as pneumonia).

Nearly, 80% of the samples tested positive for enteroccoccus, followed by E. coli (65%), campylobacter (43%), klebsiella pneumoniae (13.6%), salmonella (10.8%) and staph (9.2%).

Presumably, caused by, or at least partly due to overuse of antibiotics on farm produced poultry and other animals; half the samples also tested positive for at least one drug-resistant bacterium.

Of course, but none the less, somewhat alarmingly to some, the magazine found no significant difference in the amount of bacteria present on chicken LABELLED as "organic" or "antibiotic/hormone free."

Here's a summary of the findings:

1.      97% of the meat products contained at least one of six bacteria that can make people sick.80% of all the samples tested positive for enteroccoccus, followed by E. coli (65%), campylobacter (43%), klebsiella pneumoniae (13.6%), salmonella (10.8%) and staph (9.2%).More than half of the chicken, meat, and other meat products contained faecal contaminants (enterococcus and E. coli), which can cause blood and urinary-tract infections.

2.      Of the 65.2% of chicken and OTHER meat products that tested positive for E. coli.17.5% of the bugs were ExPEC" bacteria, "a nasty type of E. coli that’s more likely than other types to make you sick with a urinary-tract infection.

3.      Responding to the report, United States of the Americas National Chicken Council President Mike Brown defensively claimed, elimination of ALL bacteria SHOULD always be the goal. But in reality, with modern (legally, allowed) production methods; it's simply not feasible. Of the 160 million servings of chicken consumed,  in the United States of the Americas, every day, "99.9% of those servings are consumed safely," the council stated in a press release.

4.      Any raw agricultural product, including fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and poultry, is susceptible to ARTIFICIALLY INDUCED, and, also, naturally occurring, bacteria.

5.      Whether it’s labelled, “natural” “no ADDED hormone“, or organic”, purchased in the grocery store, Supermarket, or at YOUR LOCAL FARMER’S MARKET; there is the potential that fresh food could make us sick, if IMPROPERLY PROCESSED, handled or cooked. SUCH LABELLS ARE MEANINGLESS.

6.      One last thing the reports point out: That “Natural” label on chicken might not mean what you think it means. More than half of 1,005 survey respondents thought that “natural” chicken was free of antibiotics and genetically modified organisms, while nearly as many thought the label was equal to the “organic” label. Not so. Chicken, poultry, all highly processed meat product brands labelled as “Natural” were almost as likely on average to harbour harmful pathogens as any conventional store brands.

7.      This discovery has prompted a suggestion for a ban on “Natural” labels, which do not provide any meaningful information to consumers. The ‘Natural’ JUST AS THE “No Added” label is, INTENTIONALLY, incredibly deceptive and misleading. They lead to a lot of consumer deception and/or misconception.

8.      Consumers should be vigilant about pathogens on their raw meat and (while this does undoubtedly destroy much of the nutritional/health benefits) use a calibrated thermometer to ensure that poultry and other meat products are cooked internally to 165 degrees F.

9.      Right now, we have a fragmented food safety system that deals with the end of the line, not the root causes.

10.    Until we fix that, we’ll just continue to see these problems.

11.       What is important to note, however, is that only some of the bacteria present, at those levels, would pose a food poisoning risk, if ingested. For example, Enterococcus does not cause food poisoning, and all of the food poisoning maladies associated with E. coli come from a few select strains, while most are harmless to humans – and some are even beneficial.

12.        E. coli is ubiquitous in an animal environment, and we have it in our intestines. We have to ask what serotypes we’re dealing with.

13.        But while Enterococcus and most E. coli may not pose a food poisoning threat, they do indicate widespread faecal contamination of all meat products.

14.        They are also capable of causing infections of the skin, blood and urinary tract if presented an opportunity. Two of the other bacteria – Campylobacter and Salmonella – are more likely to cause diarrhoea and vomiting, the classic symptoms of foodborne illness. What’s more, nearly 17.5 percent of the E. coli strains detected are a type known to more likely cause urinary tract infections, known as ExPEC, or extra-pathogenic E. coli.

15.       Antibiotic Resistance a Growing Trend: the reports also indicates that antibiotic resistance seems to be a growing trend among bacteria on and IN all highly processed meat products. About half the samples harboured at least one multi-drug-resistant bacterium, meaning the bacterium was resistant to at least three antibiotics. Not all of the resistant bacteria were resistant to antibiotics commonly meant to treat them, but some were. Resistant bacteria are generally more virulent, even if available antibiotics are still effective.

16.       The more you look at it, the more the drug resistance starts to paint a disturbing picture.

17.       Another legitimate fear is that the antibiotics we use for human infections are going to be compromised by the use in food animals.