Fecal Chunks in Pork: The Other Contaminated Meat

The USDA is moving forward with its plan to cut the number of meat inspectors at pig slaughterhouses nationwide, despite reports of increased fecal contamination from facilities currently testing the program. Similar guidelines are currently in place at dozens of chicken processing plants, resulting in fewer inspectors examining a greater number of carcasses at faster speeds for visible fecal matter.

The new pork inspection pilot programs have exhibited substandard health monitoring with a greater incidence of fecal contamination in meat products. It doesn’t take a safety inspector to know that feces harbors a number of potentially dangerous bacteria, including both E. coli and listeria.

The Physicians Committee has previously examined the various contaminants in chicken and found the results alarming. Please see the infographic (click to enlarge) for more details on the Five Worst Contaminants in Chicken.

Considering all the health and safety risks, the best course of action for consumers is to leave the meat on the grocery shelves. (And sanitize your shopping cart while you’re at it.) Pick up a box of lentils instead and make a spicy curry or some hearty lentils burgers. Your cholesterol (and your unscathed intestines) will thank you.

And if neither nutrition nor foodborne illness is enough to set off your alarm bells, here’s a quote out of yesterday’s Washington Post from a representative of the inspectors union: “Tremendous amounts of fecal matter remain on the carcasses… Not small bits, but chunks.”