Two people may have died after eating bad beef. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 28 people have gotten sick from ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli.

Fairbank Farms recalled 545,699 pounds of fresh ground beef Friday because of the possible link. The company says customers who have the recalled meat should return it to their grocery stores for a full refund. Stores include:  ACME, BJ’s, Ford Brothers, Giant Food Stores, Price Chopper, Shaw’s, and Trader Joe’s.

Go here for a complete list of the products recalled.

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Hi there! I am on vacation in the beautiful Pacific Northwest this week, but I wanted to leave you with some Food for Thought:

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Another holiday weekend, another beef recall…

Just before Memorial Day weekend, there was this ground beef recall because the meat was contaminated with E. coli. Now, 380,000 pounds of various beef products are being recalled because of another possible E. coli outbreak.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says at least 23 people in nine states may have gotten sick after eating beef produced by JBS Swift Beef Company of Greeley, Colorado. And at least 12 people have been hospitalized, two of them had kidney failure.

Health officials investigating the E. coli illnesses say most people who got sick ate ground beef, and many said it was undercooked.

You can find more information about the recall here.

[Photo Credit: stock.xchng]

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Before you grill any burgers this holiday weekend, make sure you don’t have any of the nearly 96,000 pounds of ground beef that have been recalled.

Illinois meat producer, Valley Meats LLC, has recalled the meat because it may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, a potentially deadly bacterium. It can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure.

A list of the recalled products, which are packaged under several labels, is posted here.

[Photo Credit: stock.xchng]

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After looking at nearly 200 studies that included millions of people, there are still some questions about how some foods affect the heart. Researchers found vegetables, nuts and the Mediterranean diet made the list of foods that are heart-healthy, while the list of foods bad for the heart featured starchy carbs like white bread and trans fats, which are in many cookies and French fries. But the study says there is no strong evidence yet about whether foods like meat, eggs and milk are good or bad for the heart.

Want more News Nuggets? Follow me on Twitter!

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Question: What temperature should your Thanksgiving turkey reach before it’s done? Answer: For it to be safe to eat, it should be 165-degrees in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast. You do use a meat thermometer, don’t you??? And of course, you want it to be accurate, so check out which ones did well in Consumer Reports’ (CR) tests.

The Testing
CR looked at 11 meat thermometers – the ones you leave in food as it cooks, as well as those you poke in and read instantly.

Besides testing temperature accuracy, CR measured how quickly each meat thermometer adjusted to temperature changes. The fastest took 10 seconds or less; the slowest, more than 30 seconds. Also tested – the temperature range each thermometer could read. The widest was 0 to 450º F, which makes it more useful for things like deep frying; the narrowest was up to only 180º.

Bottom line
If you want a meat thermometer you insert before cooking, CR says try the digital Polder THM-360 ($30) – it has two probes that can track the temperature of two different foods.

If you’d rather check the temperature of cooking meat instantly, CR recommends the digital Taylor Weekend Warrior ($16) – it’s about half the price as the Polder and is very easy to use. It features a “hold” button that freezes the displayed temperature until you can remove the food from the oven, and a “max” button to show the highest temperature the thermometer has reached.

So, really… will you be using a meat thermometer this Thanksgiving?

Photo Credit: Consumer Reports

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Love her or hate her, I thought it would be fun to turn away from Sarah Palin as a politician for a bit and explore something more up my alley – nutrition. When I first heard how much the VP nominee loves moose meat, it made me realize how little I actually know about it. I’ve never tried moose meat so if anyone out there has, please enlighten me.

My first question is, what does it taste like? Is it like all the other things out there that “taste like chicken?” I read somewhere that it’s a mild, lean meat. Personally, I’m a poultry and fish kind of gal, but I’m still curious.

So, how does it stack up nutritionally? NutritionData.com lists 3 ounces (85 grams) of roasted moose meat as having 114 calories, 1 gram of fat. and 25 grams of protein. Not bad. Here are the rest of the details:

How does that compare to say… another lean meat I don’t eat – Sirloin Strip? The steak has the same amount of protein as the moose meat – 25 grams, but more calories – 180 – and way more fat – 8 grams!

Me, I’ll stick to my poultry and fish. But I’m curious… anyone out there tried moose meat? If you haven’t, do you want to?

Oh… one more question – if the plural of goose is geese, why isn’t the plural of moose “meese”? Anyone?

Photo Credits: Wikipedia

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I just read that cloned food may already be in our food supply. The thought of cloned food bugs me – there’s just something about it that I think is wrong. But what really gets me is that there is no way to tell whether the food out there is from conventional animals or from the clones.

The Food and Drug Administration says it would be impossible to know whether food and milk from the offspring of cloned animals is in the U.S. food supply because there is no difference between cloned and conventional products.

In January, the FDA said meat and milk from cloned cattle, swine and goats and their offspring were as safe to eat as the meat and milk from traditional animals.

Critics argue we don’t know enough about the cloning technology to ensure the food is safe and that the FDA also needs to address concerns over animal cruelty and ethical issues.

I just want the cloned stuff labeled so I can avoid it. What do you think – should cloned food be labeled? Would you eat it?

Photo Credit: stock.xchng

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Just as the illnesses from tomatoes and peppers seem to be winding down, the fear of contaminated food moves from fruits and vegetables to meat.

Last month, tainted ground beef from a meat plant was linked to about 50 illnesses. Now, the same plant – Nebraska Beef Ltd. – has recalled 1.2 million pounds of other beef products that might have made more than 30 people sick.

The recall includes primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef that were made on June 17, June 24 and July 8. The products have been linked to illnesses in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Whole Foods Market sold some of Nebraska Beef’s products. It announced a recall Friday of fresh ground beef sold June 2 to August 6 because of possible E. coli contamination.

Early in July, a spokesperson for the USDA said federal officials were satisfied that Nebraska Beef had made enough changes to ensure product safety.

There have already been several lawsuits filed against Nebraska Beef because of last month’s E. coli outbreak and recall.

Food Safety

This is a good time to remind you to cook meat thoroughly. The USDA says ground beef should have an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees to kill E. coli bacteria, if there are any.

E. coli Stats and Symptoms

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says E. coli makes about 73,000 people sick and kills 61 people each year in the United States. Most of those who die have weak immune systems, like the elderly or the very young.

Symptoms of E. coli infection include stomach cramps and diarrhea that may turn bloody within one to three days.

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