Ground turkey from Cargill is being recalled right now. (August 2011) The meat maybe contaminated with salmonella bacteria. A reminder that we need to thoroughly cook meat products to kill any bacteria. These outbreaks of contamination revive the debate over whether too many antibiotics are used in livestock. Antibiotic resistant bacteria can be promoted. The FDA is investigating the area.

Consumerreports.org has investigated Chicken Safety by purchasing fresh, whole broilers at various stores and analyzing them.  They found 2/3 contained Salmonella and/or Campylobacter bacteria.  This is an improvement from their last test 3 years ago.

Buying organic helps but they found 57% of the organic birds had campylobacter.  Perdue chickens were better than other name brands.  Bell & Evans did well but sample size was small. Most contaminated were Tyson and Foster Farms. Buying cleaner chickens only increases odds that failing to prepare chickens won’t make you sick.

The scary part is that almost 2/3′s of the bacteria was resistant to one or more antibiotics.

Chicken labeling:

Free range – Chicken had access to outdoors. Door may have left open briefly each day.

Natural – Chicken minimally processed. No artificial ingredients, preservatives, or added color.

No Hormones – Meaningless as USDA prohibits it.

No Antibiotics – Unverified unless chicken is certified USDA organic

USDA Organic – Certified antibiotic free, 100% organic feed, and free range.

Recommendations they suggest include:

1) It is clearly important to cook chicken to at least a 165° F level of doneness to eliminate the bacteria.

2) You also need to prevent raw chicken or its juices from touching any other food to eliminate the risk of contamination. Clean anything it touches thoroughly. Do not use these items with the cooked meat.

3) Buy chicken that is wrapped, is chilled the most, and get it right before checkout.

4) Cook the chicken within a couple days or freeze it.

5) Thaw frozen chicken in a refrigerator inside its packaging and on a plate. A microwave can also be used for thawing. Do not thaw it on the counter as bacteria could grow.

6) Refrigerate or freeze leftovers within 2 hours of cooking.

According to a study, 95% of consumer products committed at least 1 offense of “greenwashing” or displaying unproven environmental claims.  The word green or eco friendly can and does help sell products.  It is time to examine terminology closer.

Greener Choices has a good Eco-labels center that helps you decipher what green product claims really mean.  Some interesting facts.  This little marketing logos or bugs work to make products look more legit.

The “free-range” label doesn’t necessarily mean the animals went outdoors.

Meat labeled as “natural” can contain artificial ingredients, and Natural does mean anything unless it pertains to meat and poultry where it means minimally processed with no artificial flavor, coloring, or chemical preservatives.  “Natural” turkey can have diets that include hormones, anti-biotics, or genetically modified corn.

Simple Green says it is nontoxic but it contains 2-butoxyethanol that has been linked to reduced fertility in mice.

Terrachoice covers the six sins of Greenwashing: Hidden Trade-off, No Proof, Vagueness, Irrelevance, Fibbing, Lesser of Two Evils.

FTC has a guide to various green terms.