E. Coli in Beef

An article from The New York Times entitled “E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection” sheds light on some aspects of meat inspection that may frighten consumers. Michael Moss begins his report with the story of Stephanie Smith, a woman who is now paralyzed from the waist down because she ingested ground beef tainted with E. Coli. Although Smith was extremely unfortunate, these severe rare occurrences are becoming more frequent. After four children died after eating contaminated ground beef in 1994, more attention was brought to the standards of food safety in the beef industry, but after reading this article, I am not convinced that beef is safe to eat. Companies like Cargill cut costs by combining trimmings of meat from various plants and getting the ideal percentage of fat in the meat. However, these trimmings are more likely to come into contact with feces, and after being combined, it can be difficult to trace a contamination, which is why Cargill requires as few inspections as it possible can. It was found that Cargill was violating its own food safety regulations by ignoring complaints of inspectors, and leaving rancid meat near production lines. The safety precautions recommended for preparation are not effective, and the beef consumers are eating could be dangerous. The Times tested the specified safety instructions for cooking meat, and still found that bacteria were left on cutting boards and towels afterword. Cargill agreed to stop cutting so many corners, but it is uncertain how much this will affect the quality of meat.
This reading once again makes me wonder why large corporations are continually allowed to get away with giving consumers dangerous products. It does not seem right that Cargill can get off relatively unscathed even after a lawsuit without making major changes in its hygiene practices. Besides refusing to by Cargill products, what can consumers do to get changes made in food safety policies?