What's in the Meat

The food industry has become very centralized, increasing the chance and spread of foodborne diseases. One of the most common is E. coli 0157:H7. The meat packing industry has become so powerful that the U.S. government does not have the power to demand a meat packing company to recall and take back tainted meat from fast food kitchens and supermarkets. Therefore, if meat is contaminated by any foodborne pathogens it is the careless work of the meat packing industry and the government can not do anything about it. A business such as the meat packing industry is a prime example of an industry that Americans rely on very much.


The feedlots where the cattle stay before they are sent to the slaughterhouse are also a dangerous area for foodborne pathogens to spread. All the cattle in feedlots are cramped together, and if one of the cattle is infected by the pathogen, it can easily be spread to the other cattle in the lot.

A new system called the Streamlined Inspection System for Cattle (SIS – C) reduced the number of federal inspectors at slaughterhouses and gave the workers the job of inspecting the meat for safety. This system was supported by the Reagan administration and diseased animals were being slaughtered and sent out at the slaughterhouses that worked with this system. The SIS – C was finally discontinued in 1993 after there was an outbreak of E. Coli O157:H7 at Jack in the Box. The meat industry placed blame on others claiming that they did not know the proper temperature at which the meat was supposed to be cooked at. Of course, in business however you need to lie sometimes and place blame on someone else as to not hurt your own reputation. If you have a bad reputation, no one would want to be associated with you. However, by placing blame on Jack in the Box, I believe that could have lowered their number of customers, therefore they would need less meat. Since they would need less meat, they would be paying less and the meat company that supplies the meat would be losing out. Therefore, placing blame on someone else does not always work out the way you plan. They should accept responsibility and fix what was wrong.

More safety precautions have been taken here and there, but when meat is contaminated it is still not fully recalled after the contamination is discovered. I really believe that the meat industry needs to be more mindful of the meat that they send out to their customers. The customers are their main consumers, and they are making themselves look bad as they continually send out pathogen stricken meat.