Testing of grocery-store meat and poultry is showing an
alarmingly high prevalence of MRSA and other antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, can cause deadly skin infections that can also spread to heart, lungs, blood, or bone. Nationwide
tests by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen)
confirmed 47% of meat and poultry samples were contaminated with S. aureus, of
which over half were resistant to a variety of antibiotics. In another recent study, the largest sampling
of raw meat products to date indicated that the superbug MRSA, (methicillin
resistant S. aureus) is found in 7% of store-bought pork. Link to Science Daily report here.
These dangerous superbugs are being created by the liberal use of
antibiotics by industrial farms to increase growth rates. The deadly germs are then spread by handling
practices at the plants. According to a
report from the Union of Concerned
Scientists, an estimated 70% of U.S. antibiotics are used for non-medical uses by farm industries,
primarily for growth enhancement. Densely-packed concentrated animal feeding
operations (CAFOs) are the breeding grounds for drug-resistant bacteria that
move from animals to to grocery store meat counters.