| By George (George) on Friday, March 15, 2002 - 01:18 pm: Edit |
There is legislation in Congress that would "restore the Agriculture Department's authority to set and enforce standards for salmonella in meat and poultry, including the power to close a processing plant that fails to meet expectations."
The quality of meat and poultry has gone to heck because no one is monitoring the products. I personally like a rare hamburger and love Steak Tartar but because there is virtually no enforcement we can no longer serve these products or eat them out ourselves without the fear of food poisoning.
The government's approach- "The appeals court reasoned that salmonella was not subject to regulation because the bacteria are destroyed in normal cooking" assumes that we should be forced to serve all beef products at over 160F. This is a disgrace and a total abandonment of good sense (and good taste).
I urge you to contact your local representatives and demand that they restore the quality of the food we serve and eat.
To get contact information for your elected federal representatives-
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
The article from the NY Times is located here-
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/15/politics/15MEAT.html