"Anthony" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> There is a constant drumbeat of warnings about food to avoid, for
> example raw eggs and oysters, meat which has not been cooked to near
> destruction, fish which may contain mercury and so on. Yet the odd
> thing is that nowhere have I found a warning against pre-ground meat
> although in the stories one reads it often seems to be ecoli infected
> hamburger which is being recalled.
>
> I've looked (not too diligently, I admit) for stats on the subject but
> they seem rather thin on the ground and often are agenda driven, for
> example linking an increase in genetically modified foods to an
> increase in the incidence of food poisoning. But overall the problem
> seems to be quite minor, with about 5,000 deaths annually in the US,
> compared to about 40,000 road deaths (with presumably an even larger
> number of serious injuries).
>
> So I've decided to maintain the practices of a lifetime and continue to
> eat eggs, beef and seafood all the way from raw to well done, but to
> continue to cook chicken and pork to the recommended minimum
> temperatures. And to be sure to fasten my seat belt.
>


Stats will tell you how often it happens, but they don't tell you why.
Common sense (and news stories) will explain it. With ground meat, there's
more surface area exposed to contaminants. The germs are usually present on
processing & packing machinery. As the meat is ground, the germs are
thoroughly mixed in. If you don't cook your burgers completely, they won't
heat up enough inside to kill all the germs. The same germs won't penetrate
a steak or a pork chop, unless it's been sitting around so long that
appearance or smell would hopefully alert you to the fact that it's not
worth eating.