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What is the temperature?What a time to be talking about the safety of ground beef but the World Wide Web has been spinning some Internet folklore that needs to be addressed. Four years ago I received an e-mail about the increased risk of ground beef purchased at McDonalds. It included statements from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association and Dr. David Forrest, an animal science professor at Texas A&M University. Dr. Forrest is a good friend of mine; so I immediately contacted him, only for him to tell me that he had nothing to do with this e-mail but was getting barraged with inquiries about it. Within the past week, the following factual e-mail has been making its way around the Internet, as well. And I want to make sure that you help get the truth told. This rumor has been circulating in various forms for at least five years and makes the claim that the Texas Cattle Feeders Association (TCFA) originated the e-mail. This is not true and TCFA has issued the following statement in regard to the rumor: "Texas Cattle Feeders Association is not connected in any way with the e-mail you received. The e-mail, which has been in wide circulation in various forms for several years now, makes a false claim when it identifies Texas Cattle Feeders Association as the original source of the message. No such message has ever been put out by our organization. Unfortunately, we do not know the identity or motive of the person or persons making this improper use of our name." The first e-mail also suggests that Dr. David Forrest at Texas A&M University is the originator. This also is untrue. Dr. Forrest does not know how his name got associated with the rumor and, in regard to the e-mail, Dr. Forrest has said: "I had nothing to do with composing this e-mail. The information it contains is false, and I do not support any of the actions called for in the e-mail." So if you have been one of those people who read the old message and forwarded it to friends on your list, please let them know what the real truth is. But, more importantly, each one of us seems to have a concern about all of the ignorance that exists within the ranks of today's American consumer. Yet, each of us gets this bit of misinformation on our computer and our first impulse is to tell the world, even if we don't have any confirmation of truth. It really isn't hard to figure out how so much misinformation floats around the globe about modern food production. It is called human nature. We hear about contaminated products coming into the country from China. We heard about 21.7 million pounds of ground beef recalled in the second largest beef recall ever. And we read that 30 people were sickened with foodborne poisoning, so we automatically assume the worse with anything we read. Honestly, the trend in foodborne illnesses has been away from E. coli 0157:H7 in the nation's beef supply until 2007. Experts are looking at the increased number of incidents and have not figured out an exact cause yet, but there are a couple of things you can still take to the bank. If you cook ground beef to an internal temperature of 160 F, you have virtually eliminated your risk. With that said, the odds of you ever being affected are almost non-existent if you consume beef here in the United States. But how do we explain that to a sterile-minded society? How about like this: The second largest ground beef recall in the history of the United States caused 30 people to get sick. In the same week, the Chicago Marathon caused 49 people to go to the hospital for treatment and one died. Does that mean that, if you run, you are risking your life? Well, probably not, unless you run in traffic. Likewise, consuming a hamburger is just as healthy as a good run in the park on a Sunday afternoon. Just don't run when it is 120 degrees in the shade and make sure your hamburgers are monitored to be at the right temperature also. Editor's note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.FacesOfAg.com, or e-mail Trent at trent@loostales.com. 10/15/07 Date: 10/11/07
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