Tainted Pork- Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria, Fecal Contamination, Salmonella & More

This post may as well be titled “Tainted Love.” I Love pigs! They’re Adorable! And delicious. Wrong? Maybe, but every part of a pig is so flavorful that I swear swine was created for the sole purpose of human consumption (And there go my vegetarians…and orthodox Jews. Please forgive my taste buds, they really know no better- primal little things). Alas, I must sadly share that according to this Consumer Reports, pork sold in most supermarkets may be tainted with dangerous, antibiotic resistant bacteria.

69 percent of the the sampled pigs harbored bacterium that causes food poisoning. 11 percent of the sample contained a sign of fecal contamination, and between 3-7 percent hosted salmonella, staph or listeria, all of which can also cause serious illness. As written in The Week magazine: “Researchers were particularly troubled that 90 percent of the bacteria found in pork were resistant to at least one antibiotic; three of the samples had bacteria that were resistant to five antibiotics. Farmers routinely feed low levels of antibiotics to their live stock to make them plumper and keep them healthy.” According to Urvashi Rangan, the author’s study, “this practice promotes the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria which are a major public health concern.” The solution? Cook pork to at least 145 degrees to kill bacteria and wash anything that touches the raw meat thoroughly with hot, soapy water. Better yet? Buy Organic pork which is guaranteed to be free of antibiotics- Yay!