On Jun 22, 2:49*pm, "brooklyn1" > wrote:
> "John Kuthe" > wrote in message
>
> ...
> On Jun 22, 5:50 am, Rhonda Anderson > wrote:
>
>
>
> > Omelet > wrote
> > innews
>
> > > In article >,
> > > "Jean B." > wrote:
>
> > >> I disagree to some extent. If you get a cut of meat, the exterior
> > >> could be contaminated. Thus, if you grind your own meat, you
> > >> could have some of that contamination in it. Steaks, yes. Cook
> > >> the exterior (assuming you haven't pricked, beaten, etc. the
> > >> meat), and the interior would be fine. Of course, then I start
> > >> thinking of prions, but...
>
> > > Well, if I prepare steak tartare, I prepare it fresh and eat it right
> > > away so the contamination is minimized. :-)
>
> > I think Jean is probably referring to contamination that has occurred
> > prior
> > to you purchasing the meat, rather than contamination that occurs in your
> > own kitchen. Contamination of the meat surface can occur during the
> > butchering process if proper procedures aren't followed.
>
> > --
> > Rhonda Anderson
> > Cranebrook, NSW, Australia
>
> > Core of my heart, my country! Land of the rainbow gold,
> > For flood and fire and famine she pays us back threefold.
> > My Country, Dorothea MacKellar, 1904
>
> "Contamination" is always present, even if all food preparation safety
> rules are followed. I took a college Microbiology class, and I can
> never look at c\leaning up in my kitchen the same again!! IOW no
> matter how many times I wash my dishrag in hot soapy water, I know I'm
> just spreading the germs (bacteria) into a thinner more sparsely
> populated sheet on my counters!!
>
> All you can do is to minimize the growth and spread of bacteria. Keep
> foods cold (or hot) as much as possible and keep food prep surfaces as
> clean as possible. And eat particularly high risk foods as soon after
> preparation as possible. Your stomach has a fantastic germ-killer in
> it! HCl!!!
>
> =============
>
> That's not the issue... HCL aids in digestion, were it potent enough to kill
> all the germs it would burn through your stomach....

And it does sometimes, It's called an ulcer!

But Mother Nature in Her Infinite Wisdom has provided us with a
protective mucus system to protect the protein-based wall of our
stomach, as well as a very ingenious secretion method of excreting the
HCl so as to minimize the denaturing effect of the HCl on the proteins
of our stomach walls.

But it is a very good disinfectant as well.

John Kuthe...