Quit eating meat. Pretty simple.

If my meat had any E. coli on it it's cuz I've stuck it where it don't belong!

If this were just about meat safety, I wouldn't mine, But from the articles I've been reading of things behind the scenes that most people don't read, I believe this may be the beginning of eliminating meat from the Human Diet.

This isn't the type of Conspiracy where you can point a finger at any one person. It's like minded people who encourage actions within different groups to reach a certain Goal.

These Organizations know they can't just ban the production of meat. This would cause such a backlash that the people would replace every politician regardless of affiliation. The plan would be to cause the cost of meat to be prohibitively expensive for the consumers. These people have a serious case of tunnel vision & you can't reason with them.

Some Groups Involved: Climate Geeks, Environment Geeks, Vegans, Animal Geeks, People Control FREAKS, Pharmaceutical Companies, the list is quite long & there work together where they have similar interests.

Climate & Environment: All they are doing is shifting things around. Kind of like moving your sofa from one side of the room to the other. It's still there. Doesn't matter if we eat plants or an animal eats the plants then we eat the animal. The methane will still be produced. Mass is Mass. If you leave the plant matter on the ground, it will still produce methane when it breaks down. It could even lead to larger CO2 production if you consider transport. Calorie to calorie, it could take 5 truck loads of vegetables to 1 truck load of meat. I could list more, but like I said. They have tunnel vision. It wouldn't matter to them.

Vegan & Animal Geeks. I agree that animals should be treated humanly. That said: People are Omnivores. To stay healthy we need to eat Plant & Animals. Vitamins aren't a magic bullet though the Drug companies would love it. They could make a hundred bucks plus a month from every person on earth. Do you want to know where 99% of those Vitamins end up. Ask a Plumber. Better Yet, When your in the Company of a Plumber just mention that you take a lot of Vitamins. They'll usually volunteer the information as Do you know where those Vitamins end up....

Vegans & PETA: These Animals are raised for human Consumption. If we discontinue eating meat, don't plan on seeing these animals running around in the wild. They'll all but become extinct. You may see a few in Zoo's or NOT!

VEGANS: Why do you insist that I Be a Vegetarian. I Don't insist that you become a Carnivore. Taking tons of vitamins is not natural. It's a sign your not eating right. However, Some meat that should be avoided or minimized. Highly processed as in hot dogs, wafer, pressed lunch meat and any Burger less then 80% lean(Should be banned) These Items are actually connected to health problems. Similar to highly processed grain, vegetables & Fruits.

Ecoli and Salmonella isn't a plant or animal problem. It's a people who work with & process food hygiene problem...

The problem does lie with the people who handle our meat... Just not the way you have explained.

Cattle farming is big business, and anytime you are involved in big business efficiency is the issue. America's meat comes from only a handful of companies that contract out their farming. In order for these farmers to produce a desirable amount of meat they must raise the cattle as efficiently as possible. This means that the vast majority of the meat we eat comes from cattle that have never grazed a day in their lives.

They are raised in small stalls that may house an innumerable amount of cattle. The ground of these stalls is simply dirt and cattle manure. Unlike in the field where the manure is used as fertilizer to keep the grazing areas healthy, the manure now gets trampled and ultimately the cattle become covered. Here lies one of our problems. In these manure covered states the cattle catch diseases and become sick. Unhealthy cattle means unhealthy meat. Now compound problem one with our next problem and you have the reason for diseased meat and subsequently more and more E. coli outbreak.

Like previously stated cattle are not allowed to graze. Unfortunately for them (and ultimately for us) their digestive systems were designed to eat grass. However, in order to cut cost and reduce the time from birth to slaughter, cattle are fed a diet of grains and corn mixed with antibiotics (which are not effective for all of the diseases that they can contract in their close confinement, and would be unnecessary if they were allowed to properly graze). It has been estimated that if cattle were allowed to graze for twenty days they would rid themselves of 80% of the E. coli in their system.

We need to put pressure on these oversight committees not to change laws about testing, but rather to pass laws on how these animals our raised. A cow raised correctly will be healthy, which means it will produce healthier meat.

Lastly, and important to note, I am not an animal rights activist. I realize that these animals are raised to be slaughtered. I only believe that they should be raised to produce the healthiest meat possible.

One last thing. It is possible to eat an only vegetarian diet and receive all of our essential nutrients. Eating the proper mixture of nuts and beans will supply the body with the essential amino acids that are usually found in meat.

We need to elect Republicans so that we can deregulate the industry, shut down FDA, and let E. coli and Salmonella have the freedom to run amok throughout the land. Let's get the vote out in November and get these pro-regulatory Dems out of office. We need people like Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, Ken Buck and Joe Miller to get elected to the Senate so that no more regulations will ever see the light of day. Vote Republican. Get on the bandwagon. Who cares about food safety, they don't; so, why should we.

"J. Patrick Boyle, who heads the American Meat Institute, warned Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a letter last month that more testing would cause "more harm than good" by imposing new costs and diverting attention from efforts to prevent toxins from getting into the food supply."

As always, big business wants no regulation, and always find an excuse. When will the people learn who is the real enemy?

I agree with Manus. What's that dumbass Rand Paul got to say about all this? (FYI - He's liberatarian, but that's just republicans that want to smoke pot and get laid).

Has the FDA crammed enough of this call for more oversight down your throat yet?

Proper food handling will eliminate the threat period. We do not need more Communistic control over our food supply.

The forced dictatorship control the FDA seeks to enact is far worse then any threat from the BS they are trying to protect us from.

I can grow what I want to eat and drink. I can hunt and fish. But that will be changed if the FDA and people like jbunn get their way. Everything will be controlled by the idiot left who want you from cradle to grave.

I will take my chances with how/what I choose to eat and drink. I doubt the FDA has stopped me from getting sick from anything. But they are making me sick with their fake concern. They can have their concern and leave anyone who wants to keep them out of our food supply with the ability to do things ourselves.

These factory farms and corporations are not regulated enough... that's the problem. They have these faux positions that really do not care for the livestock's living situations or food intake. Most animals (regardless of how you feel about their treatment) live disgusting lives where they will likely become sick due to their lack of care, over-abundance of immune-defeating antibiotics and growth hormones, and proper natural diet (most cows in these situations are fed corn diets, which degrade their stomachs and promote E.Coli in their guts). We are eating diseased animals and corporations are making a buck off of our stupid mass consumerism because many of us haven't taken the time to educate ourselves on proper farming practices.

The purpose of large scale farming practices (corporate farming) is to crank out as much meat as possible for as little money as possible. It has been seen over and over again in large corporations ranging beyond food output. There really isn't a care for human life OR animal life... only profit. The sole purpose is profit.

Vegetables have widely become contaminated by factory farm run-offs. It's that simple.

Supporting corporate factory farms is probably the worst thing you could do food-wise. There is no reason why everyone shouldn't support small scale family farms and support their local economy.

Whether you eat meat or not, it's your choice. To each his own. Everyone deserves to feel safe when eating food though. It's sad that we've lost sight of the bigger picture... the care of PEOPLE and animals alike. We cannot keep buying these contaminated, diseased products. It is the antithesis of health and we all need to be SMARTER about what we choose to purchase.

What good does it do people,when you have a worthless Fed agency doing nothing.Put them all in the unemployment line,Good riddance .How many people have to die,Your agency does not care.Hope your days are numbered before every one gets sick.Ps Just what do you do besides talk.

"We don't need no stinkin' regulations!" -John Boehner and the Republican Party.

Going back to small family farms and organic businesses will help. The problem is that food will cost more. When you expect to get a fast food meal for under $5.00 then animals are treated brutally and veggies are not kept clean. You get what you pay for. We all need to eat less anyway. Why don't we all agree to work toward a vegetarian diet and support small farmers at farmers markets? We could all make small changes that would add up to big changes globally. Watch Food Inc., the movie.

Burp...

A lot of meat packing plants are staffed with illegals, just as vegetable farms are. It's not PC to mention it, but I no longer give a damn..... they crap in the fields where they pick the vegetables, and it's highly doubtful that there are "hand washing police" in the factories where they work.

Eating raw rare bloody half cooked beef is like playing Russian Roulette. That is one of the reasons man invented fire.

It's not just the meat that is the problem. There have been far too many cases of e-coli in vegetables. E-coli doesns't just happen. There are reasons for it. There have been cases after cases of e-coli. At first the government says more inspections, better inspections, etc. Then the fury dies down until the next case. Our food should be as safe as we can get it, whether it's meat, eggs or vegetables. Yes, smaller farming of animals would help. Yes, cleaner conditions for animals and for the workers would help.

It isn't just the farming methods or the ranching methods or the killing methods of animals and vegetables that is the problem. Most of us in America have no idea what a fresh carrot tastes like. Most have no idea what foods processed without preservatives taste like. Then we wonder why we are sick.

Omaha Steaks Internatioinal has been irradiating meat for over a decade. They can NOT afford bad press. They don't make a big deal about it because with the level of American education. The usual fools would think "radioactive". We have been doing it to virtually ALL imported spices for decades.

Using this practice could protect all the usual suspects: meats, vegetables, etc. Why isn't is used since we can put a man on the moon? That other lethal combo - Ignorance and politics. Just another reason we can keep mortality & health expense rates up. It also allows long shelf life.

If we regulate food for consumer safety it will cause job losses and therefore is bad and so vote republican for the good of the country. right? Something like that....

Some People think going back to Free Range Beef will eliminate these problems.

I assume most here(Not All) are to young to know or remember. Check your History.

Anthrax & Hoof & Mouth disease use to be a major problem resulting in complete Herd Destruction Where they would come in, Dig a Trench to herd the animals into. People would line up with rifles & Shoot them. Then push the dirt back in over the caucuses.

Most cattle are raised in Feed lots. Not in a small pen. It may be crowded but the can move about. This allows for muscle development in order to maintain the texture that people prefer, but not so much that it becomes tough & stringy as free range Beef.

Most of the beef is also feed hay as they always have been Although it may be processed into pellet form. There usually feed mostly Corn the last 3 months before taken to market to increase the Fat content. This is probably the bigger problem with Feed lot production as this type of Fat is less healthy then what you would find in free range. Free range produces a higher content of the OMEGA 3 Fat which at this time is considered the good stuff. American Beef has less fat then it use to have. McDonald's actually Imports Part of their Beef to increase the fat content for their Burgers. Americans like their burgers juicier according to McDonald's. Maybe it's just to make it cheaper?

Beef in a Pen. These are usually calves enclosed so that they can't move at all. Their feed strictly milk & nothing Else. Their never Raised to Adult that I'm aware of. The Next Time You Buy VEAL you know where & How it was Raised... I was raised on a farm in my early years & I've never knowingly ate Veal. I feel the process crosses the line to Cruelty... I feel it's more of an Elitist product & many of them are aware of how it's raised...

Free Range is becoming much less Viable because it's hard to raise cattle in a Subdivision. In the last 10 years where I live, I've seen about 300 acres of Farm & Pasture turned into Subdivisions and Nursing homes. Have also seen a 60 mile 2 lane converted to 4 lane that eliminated about 3000 acres of farm land. My point is mass production isn't just about profit. It also includes growing enough to feed everyone. We're fast approaching the point where we have to decide if we want 4 lanes or a meal...

As for diseases: That's mostly mismanagement & mostly spread by people..

U.S.D.A. shows interest in expanding federal oversight, tougher regulations

Just EXACTLY as I predicted when this story first broke. As an excuse for failing to enforce the one's they already have, another government agency charged with the over-site of an industry, having failed to actually do their jobs, asks for yet another "tool in their toolbox." The problem is not lack of laws, it's the lack of consistent enforcement, prosecution and, when appropriate, punishment for violations of those laws. If things follow their natural course, the next verse to this song goes, " U.S.D.A. chief sites short staffing as roadblock to effective enforcement." It never ends, the government takes over an industry, for our own good of course, then taxes, fines, and fees it to death while they spend their days looking for ways to keep from doing any actual work then, when their laziness and incompetent comes back to bite us all in the a$$, they cry that they need another law passed to give them even more power (and deflect the blame of course), need more government leeches on the payroll to effectively carry out their new responsibilities, and then finally they need to expand their budget about 100%. Then, about a year or two down the road the whole, sick play, repeats itself, while some of us are outraged and the rest of us make excuses for them. Of course we allow them to get by with it as we reelect the crooks, thieves, and liars responsible for it. We have got to be some of the stupidest, or at least the most gullible, people on the face of the planet.

Those that think more government involvement won't help are probably right. The trouble is that government agencies are filled with people who don't have anything directly to do with what their agency should be doing. The FDA simply has too few inspectors and they leave regulation up to the company. Now you would think most companies would not want a out break of bad meat. So you would think this self monitoring should work. Unfortunately their is not enough people that concerned about health safety. I think the mass production aspect of this is what causes many of the issues. Trying to produce too much and not monitoring effectively enough.

The argument is mute. When the Republicians are in power, they will slash government regulations to the advantage of industry and commerce for more profit and to receive campaign funds from lobbiest groups When the Democrats are in power, they will add or reinforce government regulations only after a crisis in an effort to receive campaign funds from lobbiest groups. Both parties only one goal in common. to get re-elected to office for the perks and power.

Get the illegals out of the processing plants...problem solved...

Hey Fst Ede, what the hell do illegals have to do with e. coli? Maybe it has to do with how the meat packers take out the intestines. I'm pretty sure from your stupidity that you do not know how meat processing works. When they pull the guts out of cattle, they usually are hanging upside down, they then split open the cow down the abdomen and all the guts just sort of fall out. They then have to cut them in a couple of places like the poopie hole, and throat to stomach. Now after the cuts, sometimes crap squirts onto the insides of the carcasses, and this is where it begins. If it's a clean facility, they usually pinch it closed so not to let that happen. I'm just going on the one that we used to take our cattle to, and eat ourselves. If most normal (this is just nice talk for city folks) were to see their steaks processed, they'd puke all over themselves. Don't be a hypocrite and pretend to know about something you do not. So, when pulling intestines, gets poop on meat, E coli. No poop on meat, no E coli. And it has nothing to do with Mexicans, Chinese or any other ethnic group, except probably poor hygenic white people who stink worse than the piles of poo around them.