Re: RE: Consumers Endorse Irradiated Meat in Florida; Food...

["Patricia Milligan" <PXM@nrc.gov>]

About 20 years ago, when I was living in Iowa, I toured both a poultry processing facility and a slaughterhouse/packing plant and I have been a vegetarian ever since.  They are really icky.  The USDA does have a vet at each facility to inspect the livers, etc of the animals to ensure that they have no overt signs of disease.  These guys do have a thankless job and most apparently do it pretty well, but the facility is far from a sterile place and it is easy to understand how  meats can become contaminated...  It would be impossible for that not to happen unless the facility was done in a sterile, GMP type design and then the public couldn't afford beef.    If the public was aware of the process they would either 1)give up meat all togther or 2) be screaming for irradiation of meat/poultry products.   just my thoughts and mine alone....


Patricia A Milligan
pxm@nrc.gov
301-415-2223

>>> neildm@id.doe.gov 08/03 10:37 AM >>>
Here's my understanding of the meat packing industry.  Most of it comes from
a man who was a company rep for John Morrell.

*	Slaughterhouses are regulated now due to a scathing expose' written
years ago by Upton Sinclair. They used to be pretty nasty, from what I
understand.  They're still no tourist attraction, unless you're seriously
kinky :-)
*	Incoming animals are checked for gross signs of disease
*	Carcasses tainted with urine or feces are to have the tainted areas
removed, or if the contamination extends beyond a limited area, condemned
and used in pet food.
*	Due to the processing method, poultry has an enhanced probability of
fecal contamination; this is why proper handling by the consumer is stressed
so hard, and why poultry is transported frozen. (The 'fresh' poultry in the
meat counter was thawed; fresh just means not frozen instead of never
frozen.)
*	Carcasses are individually inspected by USDA for signs of disease or
other problems: of course the inspectors are only human. Certification is by
the well known purple ink stamp on the carcass itself.  Counterfeit stamps
are not unknown.
*	Condemned carcasses are marked with dye (green or blue), but this
can be circumvented by an unscrupulous packer.

In all, slaughterhouses are unavoidably icky, but not nearly as bad as they
once were; they make an effort to produce a wholesome product, and are
inspected carefully; but there are as many unscrupulous people in this
business as in any other.

Dave Neil		neildm@id.doe.gov 

		We are Microsoft. Resistance Is Futile. You Will Be
Assimilated.

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Algutifan, Elizabeth K. (ELB)  [SMTP:elb@bechteljacobs.org] 
> Sent:	Thursday, August 03, 2000 6:26 AM
> To:	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject:	RE: Consumers Endorse Irradiated Meat in Florida; Food...
> 
> Upon reviewing Public Citizen's web site yesterday, I'd say it's them. And
> I
	...
> Something else they mentioned, that I found really disgusting, warrants a
> little discussion, although maybe not on Radsafe: "Irradiation does
> nothing
> to remove the feces, urine, pus, vomit, and tumors often left on beef,
> chicken, and lamb as the result of filthy and inhumane slaughterhouse
> conditions." Sounds like one of the basic vegetarian arguments against
> consumption of meat. Irradiation or no irradiation, if I were 16 and more
> impressionable, upon reading this statement I'd probably swear off meat
> forever. Now, I don't know a lot about slaughterhouses here in the USA,
> but
> is it normal to find cattle excrement etc. on grocery store meat products?
> What about in the dairy aisle? If this were really a problem, wouldn't we
> all be vegetarians by now or demanded the meat industry clean up their
> act?
> 
> Just another example of scare tactics to woo the unsuspecting public to
> their side. 
> 
> Elizabeth Algutifan, CHP
> algutifane@bechteljacobs.org 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:	Bob Flood [SMTP:bflood@SLAC.Stanford.EDU] 
> > Sent:	Wednesday, August 02, 2000 2:06 PM
> > To:	Multiple recipients of list
> > Subject:	Re: Consumers Endorse Irradiated Meat in Florida; Food...
> > 
> 
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