Processing Meat

Meat is processed so quickly that it is dangerous to the workers and many mistakes are made. It is also a great risk for the consumer because that is what will go into the body. A 1996 USDA study concluded “78.6 percent of the ground beef contained microbes that are spread primarily by fecal material…There is shit in the meat.” This is because when the meat is cut, frequently the contents from the stomach come in contact with the meat.

It is also somewhat disturbing to note that cattle that are put into feedlots are fed constantly for 3 months without much exercise and are “aided by the anabolic steroids implanted in their ear.” Feedlots are really crowded and cattle “live amid pools of manure.” Until 1997 “about 75 percent of cattle in the United States were routinely fed livestock wastes – the rendered remains of dead sheep and dead cattle.” However, it is still legal to feed them dead pigs, horses and chicken. Cows have 4 stomachs so they are designed to process vegetation not animals.

There are so many other issues the book addresses and I definitely recommend it. Quite a read.