Consumer Reports Warns Against Chicken

I was pleasantly surprised this morning to see an article titled Lax Rules, Risky Food in Consumer Reports. 

CR's recent tests found that an alarming 66% of grocery store chicken meat is contaminated. "The Department of Agriculture has been pondering new standards to cut the prevalence of certain bacteria in chicken for at least 10 years," the article states, "but has yet to act." Over 3.4 million Americans get sick from contaminated chicken every year. The Department of Agriculture and the USDA still don't act, in spite of the fact that we have a clear example of practices that reduce-- or altogether eliminate-- contamination: in CR's tests, "store-brand organic chicken had no salmonella contamination at all."

The USDA has no regulations for campylobacter, which sickens an estimated 2 million people a year in the US. Contamination is more likely to happen in the giant ware-house style "chicken coops" used by the large-scale farmers who provide grocery and restaurant chicken. To combat the problems of cramped, filthy quarters, they pump the animals with antibiotics. But CR is quick to point out that these antibiotics are misused or unnecessary: "a high percentage of bacteria in our tested chicken were resistant to one or more antibiotics." Yet the Union of Concerned Scientists still estimates that 70 percent of antibiotics given in the US are used to "pump up animals," not to treat existing illnesses or infections. Consumers Union urges Congress to pass legislation to end this unsafe practice. 

Stricter regulations would make our food safer, treat animals better, and reduce chemical waste production. Safe food does exist. We just need to care for the plants and animals in the right way.