> bacterial contamination caused by
> modern food handling and processing.

The horror stories (some even true!) about contaminated ground meat
usually relate to high volume industrial meat processing, material for
nightmares to be sure. I never buy ground beef made in distant
factories, which is usually found as frozen patties or packaged in
plastic tubes.

However, I regularly eat fresh raw ground beef from my local Albertson's
supermarket in Reno, Nevada, relying on the package freshness date and
my sense of smell. After a couple of days, when the meat seems a bit
less fresh, I cook it. This has worked for me for a couple of years now.
I'm 52 and in reasonably good health, so I think I can afford to play
the odds (not to mention the slot machines in the market <g>). The frail
or elderly might need to be more cautious.

The beef liver at Albertson's is nasty. It comes in plastic tubs in
small fragments, hardly slices. I've had excellent liver & onions meals
at Claim Jumper restaurants in southern California (Orange County), so I
suspect that the better liver here in the west is supplied to
restaurants. The liver my mother prepared when I was a kid in Jersey
City was in much nicer form than what I see now in the local
supermarkets.

Bill Dooley