matesz writes:
>bruce sherrod asked for a reference for the information I posted below:
>>When animals are raised on grains, they become host to the deadliest strain
>>of E. coli bacteria; the National Academy of Sciences estimates that one of
>>every three grain fed cattle is infected with this strain.  Grain fed
>>animals have bacterial counts over 300 times that of  animals that are fed
>>pasture and hay and little or no grain.  In contrast, pasture fed animals
>>have practically no detectable levels of the most dangerous, acid resistant
>>strains of E. coli.   Grain carbohydrates feed the growth of acid resistant
>>E. coli; grass and other pasture foods do not.  Consequently, grass fed
>>animals do not need to have antibiotics as a supplement to their diets.
>
>My response: My husband got that info from <www.eatwild.com> and Jo
>Robinson's excellent, short, concise book, "Why Grass Fed is Best."  This
>book  has extensive references.

Unfortunately, the web site does not say anything about e.coli
contamination in grassfed meat, except for this:

    It [grassfed meat] also lowers the risk of E. coli (a subject
    discussed in some detail in Why Grassfed Is Best!).
    (http://www.eatwild.com/news.html)

I would still very much like to see the reference that shows bacterial
counts of grain fed animals being 300 times that of grass fed, and which
shows that "pasture fed animals have practically no detectable levels
of the most dangerous, acid resistant strains of E. coli." It seems to
me that this statement _must_ be false, considering that there have
been studies which do detect the levels of acid resistant e.coli in
grassfed animals:

    Grain feeding and the dissemination of acid-resistant Escherichia coli
    from cattle.
    Diez-Gonzalez F; Callaway TR; Kizoulis MG; Russell JB
    Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Microbiology, Cornell
    University and Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department
    of Agriculture, Ithaca, NY 14853-8101, USA.
    Science 1998 Sep 11;281(5383):1666-8
    PMID: 9733511 UI: 98404270

    The gastric stomach of humans is a barrier to food-borne pathogens,
    but Escherichia coli can survive at pH 2.0 if it is grown under mildly
    acidic conditions. Cattle are a natural reservoir for pathogenic E.
    coli, and cattle fed mostly grain had lower colonic pH and more
    acid-resistant E. coli than cattle fed only hay. On the basis of
    numbers and survival after acid shock, cattle that were fed grain
    had 10(6)-fold more acid-resistant E. coli than cattle fed hay,
    but a brief period of hay feeding decreased the acid-resistant
    count substantially.

>antioxidants, CLA, omega-3s and more!!!   The benefits of grass fed meat and
>pastured poultry are not fluff.  (I think you meant the summary of the
>article was fluff, right?? :-))

Yes, I meant that the article was fluff; it says nothing about the
nutrition, safety, taste, or quality of Joel Salitan's meat products,
nor anything about the environmental impact of his farming methods.

The benefits of grassfed meat, as you say, are not fluff.  But they
can be overstated, and such exaggerations make the supporters
of grassfed lose credibility.

-Bruce
munching on grassfed short ribs from Rafter Ranch (featured on
eatwild.com) for lunch today