A Good Day to Be a Vegetarian

Photo: Robert Simon / Istock

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Meat eaters did not get a lot of good news this week.

On Tuesday, CDC officials determined that outbreaks of E. coli in Michigan and Ohio were linked, and probably caused by ground beef. Yesterday, Kroger grocery stores decided to voluntarily recall all ground beef products sold in Michigan and certain Ohio stores between May 21 and June 8 because the meat has been linked to the E. coli outbreak, according to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.

In Michigan 15 people have become ill, and 17 people in Ohio have been infected with E. coli bacteria.

The products are no longer available in Kroger stores, but they had been sold throughout Michigan and in central and northern Ohio, near the cities of Columbus and Toledo.

Kroger said it is still working with health authorities to identify the supplier of the specific type of ground beef that may have caused the illnesses, and shoppers should check their freezers for ground beef products with sell-by dates of May 21 through June 8, and return the items to stores for a full refund or replacement. Consumers with questions about the recall should contact the Kroger Consumer Hotline at 800-632-6900.

It's somehow still surprising, then, when another story breaks about cattle mistreatment and the possibility of food supply contamination.

Reuters reports that the Humane Society has documented more cases of livestock abuse.

The Humane Society filmed the abuse of downer cattle — animals that are too sick or injured to walk on their own — that took place at the Westland/Hallmark meatpacking plant earlier this year. The incident resulted in the biggest beef recall in the country's history.

This time around, according to the news outlet, the video shows downer cattle at the Portales Livestock Auction being kicked and slapped and given shocks to get them to walk. The footage was collected during visits in May.

The Humane Society investigator reported at least three of the downed cows were later sold, but there isn't evidence to show that the meat went into school lunch programs or any other part of the food supply.

Perhaps most disturbing is the recall of whole beef heads, due to what the USDA FSIS calls "specified risk materials" (SRM).

SRMs are described as tissues that are known to contain the infective agent in cattle infected with BSE — Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or mad cow disease — as well as materials that are closely associated with these potentially infective tissues.

The products being recalled are cases of "BEEF WHOLE HEAD." Each shipping package bears the establishment number "EST. 7041B" inside the USDA mark of inspection, as well as a package code of "51904" or "63922."

The company is recalling all products packed between May 31, 2007, and June 24, 2008. These products were distributed to retail establishments and lunch carts in the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas, area. The USDA says the problem was discovered by the State of Texas officials during a routine inspection at a retail establishment.

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