Almost a decade after the famous Jack in the Box ecoli scandal of 1994, six more strains of ecoli have just been made illegal. Until now only H7:O157, the strain responsible for the 1994 outbreak, was outlawed.
“We’re doing this to prevent illness and to save lives,” said Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, the head of food safety for the Agriculture Department, which regulates meat. “This is one of the biggest steps forward in the protection of the beef supply in some time.”
Not surprisingly, the meat industry is upset by the decision, because they feel it will increase their costs. I have no problem with that, considering that this will prevent more people from getting sick and even dying.
Large food corporations have been getting away with far too much for far too long. It's about time that they are made to follow a basic level of standards, such as not knowingly selling meat contaminated with a deadly pathogen.
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