More Problems with Our Food Supply: Now its Beef

How does E. coli get into our meat?

Our food supply is continuing to show problems.  Now it is beef from Whole Foods - the place where groceries are more expensive because they are supposed to be higher quality.

Unbeknownst to Whole Foods, their meat processing company was subcontracting with someone else for ground meat.  Big mistake.

So now it is no beef, no tomatoes, and no jalapeños.  Sounds like all the ingredients for tacos (except the tortillas).  Is there something symbolic in all of this?

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Whole Foods Recalls Beef Processed At Plant Long at Odds With USDA

By Annys Shin and Ylan Q. Mui
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 10, 2008; A01

Whole Foods Market pulled fresh ground beef from all of its stores Friday, becoming the latest retailer affected by an E. coli outbreak traced to Nebraska Beef, one of the nation's largest meatpackers. It's the second outbreak linked to the processor in as many months.

The meat Whole Foods recalled came from Coleman Natural Foods, which unbeknownst to Whole Foods had processed it at Nebraska Beef, an Omaha meatpacker with a history of food-safety and other violations. Nebraska Beef last month recalled more than 5 million pounds of beef produced in May and June after its meat was blamed for another E. coli outbreak in seven states. On Friday it recalled an additional 1.2 million pounds of beef produced on June 17, June 24 and July 8, which included products eventually sold to Whole Foods. The recall is not related to the recent spate of E. coli illnesses among Boy Scouts at a gathering in Goshen, Va.

Whole Foods officials are investigating why they were not aware that Coleman was using Nebraska Beef as a processor, spokeswoman Libba Letton said.

The chain's managers took action after Massachusetts health officials informed them Aug. 1 that seven people who had gotten sick from E. coli O157:H7 had all bought ground beef from Whole Foods. The same strain has sickened 31 people in 12 states, the District and Canada...

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