"Most bacteria are beneficial and help to outcompete the disease-causing
bacteria."

<That's a very sweeping statement- how are you sure that it applies in this
situation?>


Sure.

"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.>

Pathogenic bacteria are harmful and can cause serious, even life-threatening
illness.  We normally don't consider raw meat a hazardous food (capable of
supporting the growth of pathogenic bacteria) mainly because raw meat should
be cooked thoroughly before being consumed.  However, some of the practices
advocated on this list throw that into question.

Just keep in mind that pathogenic bacteria find their niche in life in the
intestines of warm-blooded mammals.  They tend to die off in the environment
(outside the body) and in a competitive environment (harmless, spoilage
bacteria tend to outcompete pathogens and grow more vigorously).

E. coli are normally found in our bowels as part of the normal intestinal
flora.  Its only the pathogenic or toxigenic strains that are problematic.

<Being E.coli- cattle E,coli are extremely 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?

Cook meat thoroughly to reduce the risk of food borne illness.  Shock waves
seem unnecessary because the raw meat may be subject to subsequent
contamination by pathogens, who will grow rapidly in an environment largely
free of spoilage bacteria.  So you'd still have to cook the meat thoroughly
anyway.

"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 difference- 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.>

My point is that the article implied that pathogens are teeming inside the
cut of meat.  I don't believe that this is necessarily the average
situation.

In terms of ground beef, the pathogens are well distributed throughout the
product during the grounding operation.  There's an argument to be made for
irradiating ground beef to prevent serious food borne illness due to
undercooking.

Rob