About 5 percent of the children who develop HUS: Interview with Dr. Patricia Griffin.
200 the leading cause of kidney failure among children: Cited in “Isolation of E. coli 0157:H7 from Sporadic Cases of Hemorrhagic Colitis — United States,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, August 1, 1997.
201 as few as five organisms: Interview with Dr. David Acheson.
The most common cause of foodborne outbreaks has been: See “Outbreak — Georgia and Tennessee.”
the feces of deer, dogs, horses, and flies: See Armstrong et al., “Foodborne Pathogens.”did not eat a contaminated burger: See “Update: Multistate Outbreak.”remains contagious for about two weeks: See Armstrong et al., “Foodborne Pathogens.”
202 E. coli 0157:H7 can replicate in cattle troughs: See Paul Hammel and Henry J. Cordes, “Holes in the Research: E. coli Prompts Few Changes on the Farm from Farm to Fork,” Omaha World-Herald, December 15, 1997.
About 75 percent of the cattle in the United States: Cited in Mitchell Satchell and Stephen J. Hedges, “The Next Bad Beef Scandal? Cattle Feed Now Contains Things Like Chicken Manure and Dead Cats,” U.S. News & World Report, September 1, 1997.
millions of dead cats and dead dogs: Ibid.
cattle blood is still put into the feed: For the unsettling details of what livestock are now fed, see “Substances Prohibited from Use in Animal Food or Feed; Animal Proteins Prohibited in Ruminant Food; Final Rule,” Part II, Federal Register, June 5, 1997; Ellen Ruppel Shell, “Could Mad-Cow Disease Happen Here?” Atlantic Monthly, September 1998; and Rebecca Osvath, “Some Feed and Manufacturing Facilities Not Complying with Rules to Prevent BSE, Survey Finds,” Food Chemical News, April 3,2000.
A study published a few years ago: Eric R. Haapapuro, Neal D. Barnard, and Michele Simon, “Review — Animal Waste Used as Livestock Feed: Dangers to Human Health,” Preventive Medicine, September/October 1997.
203 during the winter about I percent of the cattle… as much as 50 percent during the summer: The study was conducted by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. Cited in “Study Urges Pre-Processed Beef Test for E. coli,” Health Letter on the CDC, March 13, 2000.
204 can contaminate 32,000 pounds: Cited in Armstrong et al., “Foodborne Pathogens.”
204 the animals used to make about one-quarter: See “Relative Ground Beef Contribution to the United States Beef Supply — Final Report,” The American Meat Institute Foundation, in cooperation with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association,” May 1996.
dozens or even hundreds of different cattle: Cited in Armstrong et al., “Foodborne Pathogens.”
“This is no fairy story and no joke”: Sinclair, Jungle, p. 135.
205 “Meat and food products, generally speaking”: Quoted in Skaggs, Prime Cut, p. 123.
“Men are men”: Quoted in Yeager, Competition and Regulation, p. 208.
“we are paying all we care to pay”: Quoted ibid., p. 205.
A panel appointed by the National Academy of Sciences… another National Academy of Sciences paneclass="underline" The findings of the first panel were published in a report entitled Meat and Poultry Inspection: The Scientific Basis of the Nation’s Program (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1985). The findings of the second panel appeared as The Future of Public Health (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1988).
206 “Who knows what crisis will be next?”: The chairman of the panel was Richard Remington, professor of preventive medicine and environmental health at the University of Iowa. Quoted in Gregory Byrne, “Panel Laments ‘Disarray’ in Public Health System; Institute of Medicine Panel,” Science, September 23, 1988.
five major slaughterhouses that supplied about one-fifth: Cited in Daniel P. Puzo, “Does Streamlined Beef Inspection Work?” Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1992.
number of federal meat inspectors would be cut by half: See Knight-Ridder News Service, “Meat Policy Changed: Plants Won’t Be Inspected As Often,” The Record, November 4, 1988.
A 1992 USDA study of the Streamlined Inspection System: See Don Kendall, “Report Calls for Streamlining Federal Meat Inspections,” AP, September 17, 1990.
207 the accuracy of that study was thrown into doubt: On April 30, 1992, the ABC News show PrimeTime Live broadcast an investigation of the Streamlined Inspection System for Cattle. ABC had obtained corporate documents showing that some USDA visits were known in advance. The show also included footage of meat covered in feces being processed at the Monfort plant in Greeley. For more on conditions at the Greeley plant, see Kelly Richmond, “Unhappy Meals: Colorado Meat Plant Blasted for Disease and Filth,” States New Service, June 11, 1992. For more on the lapses of the SIS-C and the lack of surprise during USDA visits, see Guy Gugliotta, “USDA Is Sued: Where’s the Beef Report? Public Interest Group Charges System Lets Dirtier, More Dangerous Meat Reach Consumers,” Washington Post, July 10, 1990.
some of the meat used by Jack in the Box: See Terry McDermott, “The Jack in the Box Poisonings — Why Inspection of Meat Fails,” Seattle Times, January 31, 1993; Frank Green, “Foodmaker, Suppliers Settle E. coli Claims,” San Diego Union-Tribune, February 25, 1998.
“This recent outbreak sheds light”: Quoted in “Meat Institute Urges Federal and State Agencies to Adopt Industry Guidelines Proven to Prevent E. coli 0157:H7 in Hamburgers,” PR Newswire, February 4, 1993.
“The presence of bacteria in raw meat”: Quoted in Fox, Spoiled, p. 252.
208 had waited a week before acknowledging: See Robert Goff, “Coming Clean: After Its Tragic Outbreak of E. coli, Jack in the Box Quickly Fixed Its Food Handling,” Forbes, May 17, 1999.
210 A study of campaign contributions: See “The Captive Congress,” a chapter in Safety Last, as well as the statistical tables, pp. 9–21, 76–90.
212 prosecutors claimed… Both men were later found innocent: See Scott Bauer, “Prosecutors: Former Hudson Foods Officials Lied about Meat Recall,” AP, November 10, 1999; “Tyson Unit Acquitted of Lying in Beef Recall; Hudson Quality Control Director Also Cleared,” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, December 4, 1999.
health officials in Nevada did not learn from the company: FSIS Recall Policy Public Meeting.
“had not been fully tested”: Quoted in Elliot Jaspin and Scott Montgomery, “U.S. Mum on Fast Food Recalls,” Cox News Service, August 18, 1997, Jaspin and Montgomery have written a number of fine investigative pieces on the USDA and the meatpacking industry.