Secrets of the City

Back in October, the New York Times published an article about Stephanie Smith, a children’s dance instructor left paralyzed by a severe form of E. coli, “which Minnesota officials traced to the hamburger that her mother had grilled for their Sunday dinner in early fall 2007.” (See Noodleman’s MNSpeak post here.)

Andrew Zimmern called it “the most important food article in years,” quoting the following from the New York Times:

The frozen hamburgers that the Smiths ate, which were made by the food giant Cargill, were labeled “American Chef’s Selection Angus Beef Patties.” Yet confidential grinding logs and other Cargill records show that the hamburgers were made from a mix of slaughterhouse trimmings and a mashlike product derived from scraps that were ground together at a plant in Wisconsin. The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria.

Those low-grade ingredients are cut from areas of the cow that are more likely to have had contact with feces, which carries E. coli, industry research shows. Yet Cargill, like most meat companies, relies on its suppliers to check for the bacteria and does its own testing only after the ingredients are ground together.

Well, Cargill is now facing a $100 million lawsuit for the tainted burger. Smith’s E. coli infection led to hemolytic uremic syndrome, kidney failure, seizures, a 3-month medically induced coma, and ultimately, paralysis and wheelchair confinement. According to her lawyer, her medical bills have already passed $2 million and will likely add up to tens of millions of dollars — as well as multiple kidney transplants. Sure, Cargill already covered some of her bills, but how do you pay for a life of wheelchair confinement?

Makes you wonder if incidents like this have anything to do with Cargill’s 65 percent drop in earnings. Are all these horrid reports giving hamburgers a bad name? Or just Cargill? How much are you willing to risk for a nice juicy burger?

Upton Sinclair’s landmark book, “The Jungle,” exposed Americans to the horrors and unsanitary conditions of the nation’s slaughterhouses. The New York Times, in a Michael Moss article dated 3 Oct, investigates the causes and consequences of a 2007 outbreak of E. coli in Minnesota, and elsewhere, due to contaminated ground beef marketed by Minnesota ag giant Cargill. The victim interviewed in the article, whose life was forever and tragically altered, is Minnesota resident Stephanie Smith.

[FTA:] The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria. Using a combination of sources — a practice followed by most large producers of fresh and packaged hamburger — allowed Cargill to spend about 25 percent less than it would have for cuts of whole meat.

According to Cargill, the world needs more sweeteners. Yup, we’ve had our fill of saccharin, NutraSweet, and Splenda. Now Cargill introduces Xtend — an all-natural syrup derived from sucrose and maltose (huh?) that is up to 70 percent sweeter than sugar and sure to attract the likes of Americans looking for the next miracle diet. But I do question their name choice. Googling “Xtend” leads to Xtend Energy Enhancer, Xtend-A-View Lens, the popular Xtend-A-Lopper and you guessed it: Xtend Penis Enlarger. Sounds like some great cross-marketing opportunities.