Ground beef recall.

[Jonas Pilot]

SCARBOROUGH, Maine -

Hannaford Supermarkets is alerting consumers that Cargill Beef is voluntarily recalling 29,339 pounds of ground beef that may contain salmonella.

The 85 percent lean ground beef was produced at Cargill's plant in Wyalusing, Pa., on May 25, and repackaged for sale to consumers of the Maine-based grocery chain.

Cargill President John Keating said in a statement, "Food borne illnesses are unfortunate and we are sorry for anyone who became sick from eating ground beef we may have produced."

Hannaford's said consumers should check their ground beef for "use or sell by" dates between May 29 and June 16. Refunds will be offered for ground beef that is returned.

Read more: http://www.wmur.com/news/nh-news/Han...#ixzz21SD7Vtdw

[Gearhead]

I know it's more expensive, but locally-owned butcher shops are less likely to have salmonella and E.Coli in the meat they sell because they know that they'll likely lose their business and their home if someone gets sick. I hope they also buy their meat from a local USDA-inspected slaughterhouse, but they'll tell you where it comes from if you ask.

(As far as I know, the closest USDA-inspected slaughterhouses are in Sanford, ME and Windham, ME)

A huge company like Cargill doesn't sell directly to the public, so when the public decides to "take their business elsewhere", they end up still buying Cargill, or IBP or Tyson, etc. only at another supermarket.

[Happy Gourmand]

Isn't the only affected ground beef the 14 lb. tube?
When I buy ground beef, I make sure it is store packaged, not those "sealed" containers that indicate it is ground and packaged somewhere else. I always assumed that the store packaged beef is store ground. I will specifically ask if my assumptions are correct. I believe that all the local chains....Shaw's, Market Basket and Hannaford, have fresh store ground beef in the smaller packages of about 3 lbs or less. I have seen some "tubes" of ground beef in these stores also...I will never buy these, or the frozen pre-made patties.

[jrc]

I'll bet dollars to donuts that the stores take those big tubes, open them and repackage the beef into the smaller packages most people buy. I don't see many people grinding beef at the local Hannaford.

BTW How many people still have beef with "use or sell by" dates between May 29 and June 16? I guess maybe in the freezer.

[SIKSUKR]

Any traypack, overwrap hamburg pkg you see in these stores do not come from a bulk tube. Its very plain to see how the meat was ground right onto the tray. You could not duplicate that look taking it from a tube and portioning onto a tray. I know as my family owned and I worked a medium sized processing plant right here in NH for 25 years. All processing plants, no matter what size are USDA inspected. We had a fulltime inspector.

As a side note, fully cooking hamburg kills any salmonella.

[Belmont Resident]

Originally Posted by SIKSUKR

Any traypack, overwrap hamburg pkg you see in these stores do not come from a bulk tube. Its very plain to see how the meat was ground right onto the tray. You could not duplicate that look taking it from a tube and portioning onto a tray. I know as my family owned and I worked a medium sized processing plant right here in NH for 25 years. All processing plants, no matter what size are USDA inspected. We had a fulltime inspector.

As a side note, fully cooking hamburg kills any salmonella.

Funny, since I was young I’ve always had my beef cooked medium/rare more on the rare side. Steak, hamburger, roast beef, etc. I have never gotten ill after eating beef.
Either I’ve been really lucky or a lot of what they want you to believe is somewhat true.
I have gotten food poisoning from pickled eggs though.
As for the tubes of hamburger, both my wife and I took one look at them when they first came out and didn't like the way they looked. The meat inside almost looks watered down.

[ChocolateGypsy]

@Belmont resident, steaks and roasts may be contaminated on the outer surface which gets cooked with enough heat to kill the bacteria. Hamburger, on the other hand, is ground up and what was on the outside of a piece of meat will be on the inside of a hamburger which may not be cooked enough to kill the bacteria.

[ripley]

Those large tubes of ground meat are known in the industry as " Chubs "
Nearly every company that sells ground chuck or ground sirloin uses these.
Although they look ready to eat ,there is nothing stopping the supermarkets from running them thru their meat grinder one more time. It is the exception when a company does not do this .
All the supermarkets I know do this ,If ypu break open a mound of ground beef and it is dark in the middle ,that is because of bacteria.Bacteria eats the blood in the middle and it turns brown.
If you want great hamburg ,ask the person at the meat counter to grind up a piece of "shoulder steak boneless" or Shoulder roast boneless" this is also known as london broil. it is from the front of the animal and therfore it is called Forequarter beef [ from the front quarter of the animal ]
it is has the best taste and is also pretty lean in most cases . Many times you will also save money over the junk they pass off as "Fresh ground chuck " or "fresh ground sirloin"
One of things that Hannafords does that really irritates me is the cuts of meat they offer. London Broil is not a cut of meat but simply a suggested way of serving a piece of meat .It is most often cut from the forequarter of the animal and so, it has the most flavor but it tends to be a bit tough. Therefore marinating it or cooking it slowly but longer makes it a nice piece of meat which tends to be overlooked in many instances.
Hannafords will often substitute a piece of " Top Round " and sell it for "london broil " this is simply a good way to get rid of the excess top round that tends to build up in meat packing plants and also get some undeserved money from a piece of meat that has very little flavor. keep your eyes open for hannafords,,they do this quite often and while not lieing , they are offering a piece of substandard beef to be served "london broil style "and it has little flavor.

[Belmont Resident]

Bad beef was sold at Wolfboro supermarket.

Ripley thanks for the info, I have a couple of friends who are meat cutters for MB. I think in the future I'll call ahead and ask for fresh ground beef instead of what is out on display.

It looks like I'll be buying in bulk soon anyways. Food costs are expected to go up 5% over the next 9 months as a result of the drought.

[gus62]

We here at Heath`s in Center Harbor never have and never will use Chub or tube beef. We use fresh beef and fresh trimmings to make our ground beef several times a day. We have confidence that our fresh ground beef is of the highest quality and standards in the Lakes Region. Shop local!

[SIKSUKR]

Originally Posted by ripley

Although they look ready to eat ,there is nothing stopping the supermarkets from running them thru their meat grinder one more time.

True but when hamburg is intended to be ground in the store from chubs,it is not the same as hamburg that is ready to cook.The chubs that will be ground again are course ground.Hamburg is almost always ground twice,course then fine.

Originally Posted by ripley

All the supermarkets I know do this ,If ypu break open a mound of ground beef and it is dark in the middle ,that is because of bacteria.Bacteria eats the blood in the middle and it turns brown.
.

I don't know where you got this one.You think bacteria are only on the inside?Color change of meat has nothing to do with bacteria.Its myoglobin and oxygen.
When freshly slaughtered meat is cut into steaks, the muscle tissue comes into contact with oxygen in the air. The myoglobin in the meat binds this oxygen, forming oxymyoglobin and giving the meat a red color. However, if fresh meat sits for a period of time, generally over the course of several days, the structure of the myoglobin changes. The iron molecule in the middle is oxidized from its ferrous to ferric form and a different complex is formed called metmyoglobin. This compound turns the raw meat a brown color. The meat is usually still safe to eat when cooked, but the brown, unappealing color turns off most consumers. To avoid having your fresh meat turn brown, use it as soon as possible after purchasing it.

[Jonas Pilot]

Please remember this. You are very unlikely to have been infected but it's worth knowing what to look for.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sal...ction=symptoms

[Rusty]

Anybody know if they still inject (or by some method) carbon monoxide gas in the meat to make it look red for a longer period of time.

I guess even spoiled meat can look good when CO is used.

[Gearhead]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Anybody know if they still inject (or by some method) carbon monoxide gas in the meat to make it look red for a longer period of time.

I guess even spoiled meat can look good when CO is used.

The prepackaged ground meats you see in the store are packaged with a shrink (or stretch) film which flushes the meat with a myoglobin blooming agent to give it a bright red color for a longer time, extending the fresh look in the cooler. Meat which is packaged without the oxygenating film will turn brown quickly, even though it's fine. It's all about product presentation. If you're curious if the agent is used, open the package and pull the meat apart. If it's only red on the surface, the agent is present. It doesn't penetrate below the surface.

I designed packaging machinery for years for a very large shrink film manufacturer and when it comes to manufacturing and packaging food, I've seen it all. I will never (ever) purchase prepackaged frozen hamburger patties after a trip down south to a well-known meat packing plant. They were grinding "beef" into patties, freezing and packaging it. What they used were hearts (dropped one on the floor, picked it up and put it back into the grinder) oats dyed red (no, I'm not kidding) and an overabundance of flies buzzing around because it was hot and they had the doors open for ventilation. They were also operating a barbecue out back and eating the hamburgers they were making.

I heard a story about another packing plant which takes cows with "cancer eye" and other tumors and grinds it all up for frozen hamburger patties for at least one large fast food restaurant. As long as it can walk, it's fair game. How about the ones that fall off the hook after they've been eviscerated? They land on a floor covered with bovine excrement, and they are hoisted back up and sent on their way (to our dinner plates).

Or you could bypass all that and buy local from a guy who raised (and maybe even named) his herd.

[SAMIAM]

I could be wrong but I believe that none of the major chains grind their beef in store.It all comes from a commissary and even the small packages are machine sealed and sent to the stores.
E.M.Heath's is the only store ,locally that grinds fresh burger every day and it is awesome.We use it at the VK as does several other local restaurants.
I believe Vista foods in Laconia grinds their own and also the Meredith Center store.......I'm sure there's others but I wouldn't buy ground beef anywhere else.

[hilltopper]

The Wining Butcher grinds their own also, I believe.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by hilltopper

The Wining Butcher grinds their own also, I believe.

Yes they do and it's very good!!

Sam's club (at the least the one in Manchester) grinds their own as well. We buy most of our meats there, they have excellent meats!

Dan

[jmen24]

Market Basket grinds their own beef as well as cutting on site most everything in their meat case. Non-MB labeled meats typically come in prepackaged, as well as most all chicken product.

[Greene's Basin Girl]

Originally Posted by gus62

We here at Heath`s in Center Harbor never have and never will use Chub or tube beef. We use fresh beef and fresh trimmings to make our ground beef several times a day. We have confidence that our fresh ground beef is of the highest quality and standards in the Lakes Region. Shop local!

Heath's is where I buy all my meat. It is top notch.

[ChocolateGypsy]

Originally Posted by ripley

Those large tubes of ground meat are known in the [edit]
All the supermarkets I know do this ,If ypu break open a mound of ground beef and it is dark in the middle ,that is because of bacteria.Bacteria eats the blood in the middle and it turns brown.[edit].

I agree with everything you wrote except the above. The reason for brown meat in the middle of the ground beef is that the blood had oxidized at some point before packaging with gas. But even freshly ground,lovely red/pink meat can be contaminated. You won't normally see or smell the bacteria that causes food borne illness.

And then, there's this organism called "listeria" that likes it's food cooked -- it's found in hot dogs and cold cuts.

[hilltopper]

Originally Posted by hilltopper

The Wining Butcher grinds their own also, I believe.

I meant to add...

I think my wife told me the other day they no longer do the bulk gound beef deals. At one point you could buy 8 lbs for the price of 5lbs and at another point the deal was 5 lbs at the price of 3 lbs. It stinks you can no longer get this deal. It got us into the Butcher and very rarely did we leave with just the ground beef.

[jmen24]

Originally Posted by ChocolateGypsy

I agree with everything you wrote except the above. The reason for brown meat in the middle of the ground beef is that the blood had oxidized at some point before packaging with gas. But even freshly ground,lovely red/pink meat can be contaminated. You won't normally see or smell the bacteria that causes food borne illness.

And then, there's this organism called "listeria" that likes it's food cooked -- it's found in hot dogs and cold cuts.

It takes a processing machine to inject gas into the package prior to sealing.

Next to the cutters station in the meat room of MB is a roll of cling wrap and a hot plate (the same setup is in the produce dept. and the dairy dept. for the specialty cheeses that are also cut on site). The hamburg (and all the other meats cut on site) are put into the foam plate. A piece of cling wrap is started off the roll and wrapped around the product, stretched tight will all edges bundled to the bottom. The package is then pressed into the hot plate to seal the item. It is them weighed, priced and set for the retail case.

The rolls of wrap are used by all three departments, same case, same label and packaged in the same manner that any product used in food prep or distribution would be.

There is no gas injected into the air space of fresh ground beef or meat cuts. All meat will begin to turn brown at the same rate no matter if it came from the MB meat room, The Whining Butcher meat room, the Meat House meat room or from my fathers meat room from cattle that we raise ourselves.

40 years ago when you went to the butcher to pick up your meats, they would react the same way if left to oxygen exposure. The process would be slowed compared to today, due to the aging process that has seen a decline in recent years. The loss of weight and space required for proper aging is out of the reach of most large scale operations, as does the comsumer demand for the lowest price.

The lowest price gets you a product that has not reached it full potential for quality and flavor.

The organizations that use gas to keep the color in their meats are the organizations that do not have a meat room on site and are looking to maximize the amount of time it can spend on the shelf or in transport. Think Walmart, Target, quite a few Hannaford's and a few other smaller groups that are just filling from a cooler out back.

If you are unsure of whether you local grocery cuts their own meats or burg. Ask a member of the meat department to custom cut you a cut of your choice, that is available on the shelf. Just be aware that after 6 there is not a cutter on staff (at the MB anyway), just part-timers keeping the stock full.

[magicrobotmonkey]

This is why we always grind our burgers at home. We have the meat grinder attachment for our kitchen aid which is relatively cheap and takes up little space when not in use. I like my burgers medium rare, but I'll only eat them that way if I know the origin of the grinding...

[Happy Gourmand]

I was in the Hannaford in Gilford yesterday and much to my disappointment was told that the only beef that is ground locally is the 80% mixture. All other mixtures are reground from the 14 pound chubs that come from Cargyll. The meat man I spoke with told me he will only buy the 80% mixture. Being a fan of 85% ground beef, that explains inconsinstency in the flavor from one batch to another. I will make a trip to Shaw's later today and will pose the same question to them and let you know what I'm told.

[Happy Gourmand]

A little late to post this, but a "meat man" at the Shaw's in Gilford told me that ALL the ground beef at Shaw's is fresh store ground. I specifically asked if any of it was reground from chubs or tubes that were initially ground at a packing plant. And, though I didn't ask, he also told me that they did not use any pink slime in their Ground beef.
This info come from one source in one store. I usually like to verify info with another source in another store, but I haven't done that yet. If anybody knows differently, let us know.

[patman]

Originally Posted by magicrobotmonkey

This is why we always grind our burgers at home. We have the meat grinder attachment for our kitchen aid which is relatively cheap and takes up little space when not in use.

Ditto.

Even the cheapest roast turns into better stuff than you're likely to get in a typical "80%" grind anyway. Cheaper too... When MB puts roasts on sale, we pick up a few, get out the meat grinder and stock up the freezer. Mmmmm!

[Jonas Pilot]

Is there enough fat in the roasts to hold the burgers together?

[SIKSUKR]

Originally Posted by Jonas Pilot

Is there enough fat in the roasts to hold the burgers together?

For the most part fat does not hold hamburg together. Smeared up fat does have some sticky qualities but you really don't want your fat "smeared" through overworking it. It's the myosin protien that has the binding effect. Fat surely is needed IMO to make a burger palatable. 85% is just right for this guy.

[patman]

Originally Posted by Jonas Pilot

Is there enough fat in the roasts to hold the burgers together?

Works for us!

[Rattlesnake Gal]

I agree with the folks that grind your own.

[hoopdawg]

When the roasts go on sale at MB, I pick up a few and right there at MB they will grind it free for you , saves me the mess at the house

[SAMIAM]

Originally Posted by SIKSUKR

For the most part fat does not hold hamburg together. Smeared up fat does have some sticky qualities but you really don't want your fat "smeared" through overworking it. It's the myosin protien that has the binding effect. Fat surely is needed IMO to make a burger palatable. 85% is just right for this guy.

I agree with SIKSUKR that 85/15 is just right.80/20 is a little fatty and 90/10 is a little dry.

[Lakesrider]

I just bought two pounds at the Wineing Butcher in Meredith. It was awesome.
I have not bought box store hamburger in quite some time. Having heart surgery makes you think twice about red meat intake.....