I am deeply concerned about the quality of the ground beef certified by the USDA and distributed to schools and to the public. Not only am I concerned about what is in the meat itself, but the sanitary policies of worldwide fast food chains, such as McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, and more. Also how ignorant the public is to what they"re eating. From slaughterhouse to packaging, meat can get so contaminated; some say it is not fit for human consumption. Every day in the United States, about 200,000 people are sickened by a food borne disease, 900 are hospitalized, and 14 die. .
Throughout the 80s and 90s, the USDA chose meat suppliers for the National School Lunch Program on the basis of the lowest price, without imposing additional safety requirements. Not only was the cheapest ground beef most likely to contain Salmonella and E. Coli, but also to contain pieces of spinal cord, bone, and gristle. Neither the school authorities, nor the students, nor the parents knew about this. Is it fair that people do not have a choice about consuming potentially lethal beef, and moreover, not even being informed?.
Annually in the United States, Salmonella causes about 1.4 million illnesses and 500 deaths. Currently, the fast food industry is most responsible to the threat to food safety. Not only is contaminated meat used, but it is mishandled as well. When interviewed, many workers said they would not eat anything unless they had made it themselves.
The fast food giants have enormous buying power, which has given them access to some of the cleanest ground beef, and most rigorous testing. They need to use that power. The USDA, in tandem with the fast food chains, needs to impose stricter standards on slaughterhouses and meatpackers. They need to have more frequent inspections and stop bribery. If fast food companies, such as In-N-Out, refuse to buy meat from packers that don't meet standards, meatpackers will be forced to work harder.