A Supermarket Surprise
If you think that you can judge that package of dismembered animal bits by its expiration date, here’s a cautionary tale that will make you think again. A customer at a Brooklyn grocery store found a newer “sell-by” label slapped on top of an expired one on a package of chicken and told the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets about it. The inspecting body for food safety shrugged it off, saying that sell-by dates are “nothing but a tool for store managers,” who are permitted to relabel or repackage food.
60 Minutes called the fluid in which dead chickens float before they are processed for food “fecal soup,” and we have heard enough horror stories to realize that most meat is contaminated with dangerous bacteria like E. coli, campylobacter, listeria, and other bacteria that live in the intestinal tracts and feces of animals. Meat and dairy products spoil fairly quickly, so this might be a good time to start avoiding the stuff altogether. I’m hoping for a run on our vegetarian/vegan starter kit displays, but if you don’t have one nearby, you can download a copy or order one from our Web site.
It just goes to show—any way you slice it, meat is still just decomposing flesh.
Written by Heather Moore
