After Meat Recall, Much Stays in Fridge

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Most of the meat sent to market and later recalled because of contamination — usually E. coli bacteria — is never recovered by the Department of Agriculture or the meat producer, according to a USA Today analysis.

That means bad meat may be reaching the dinner table, and the USDA has a plan to improve its notification system in order to improve the rate of return and keep people from falling ill.

The plan: When meat is recalled, notify customers not only of the product name and the state in which it was sold, but also the specific retailers that sold the meat. The idea is that most consumers are more familiar with their local grocery store than the brand name on the meat they purchase.

For consumers concerned about the quality of the meat they eat — not to mention the ethics with which it was raised — there's no substitute for knowing your butcher and asking questions about how the animal was raised, what it was fed, how it was processed, and, not least, who was doing the work.

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