>Most bacteria are beneficial and help to outcompete the disease-causing
>bacteria.
>
That's a very sweeping statement- how are you sure taht it applies in this
situation?

>Most food-borne illness comes from "post-processing" (after cooking)
>contamination.  This is because the beneficial spoilage bacteria have been
>greatly reduced in number during cooking, allowing fairly rapid
>multiplication of disease-causing bacteria should the meat be subsequently
>contaminated (say, by hands or cutting boards...).
>
>So I'm not sure that a big reduction of bacteria in raw meat is even
>desired.

So, are you saying you're not sure if the bacteria in raw meat are harmful
or not. Being E.coli- cattle E,coli are exremely toxic to us, and are a
major hazard. Beef can carry human E. coli strains from handlers who don't
wash after going potty, or it can carry cattle E.coli from manure which is
very dangerous. That's all I know about it, so why don't you fill in the
take home message?
>
>Besides, raw meat is essentially sterile tissue that can become
>contaminated
>during slaughtering.  But the contamination is largely on the surface of
>the
>cut of meat (not deep inside, unless the product has been ground up).
Which doesn't make any differnece- it still comes down to whether it's a
toxic E. coli or a non toxic one. Not to mention that ground beef is
probably the most common form of beef on a pounds sold basis.

Jacque


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