Consumer reports article on salmonella in store bought birds

[dichotomymom]

And that's where the post should end. Thank you tying up the loose ends and remidning us that whether we're wearing overalls or hemp products, we're out here providing a service that people need and that it's about choice. Thank God for that

 

[greathorse]

But what about hemp overalls? LOL. As much as I often dont understand the cause of heated debate I also beleive that some of life's greatest learnings come from them.

 

[AHappychick]

it is summed up in this paragraph but here is one article talking about looking for alternative ways to administer antibiotics to a commercial flock

"In view of the above, the aims of this study were to determine if modifying the dosage regimen of enrofloxacin in poultry could improve the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics to maintain or improve efficacy but reduce selection of strains with reduced susceptibility/resistance."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1694010/

FYI a study on the antibiotics again listing how antibiotic regiments are protocol in many places

http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...serid=10&md5=d7d25f59f8dff0fec80bd205faf1433f

http://aac.asm.org/cgi/reprint/50/12/4030.pdf

articles concerning how they are changing the rules on growth hormone regiments hmmm i wonder why they are stopping and how long it was going on for and how much is still acceptable.

As you can see there are lots of studies with them trying different things to make what I think is a very big and growing bird even bigger (broilers)

http://www.reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/209790.html

and here is a whole thing on all the ways they try to increase efficiency, it is understandable where in this wonderful market cheaper is better and there is a constant struggle to increase profit. It does note that the health of the bird is of a concern and a big factor as well. So by no means do I think they not care or that the places are not sterile just that i dont want the stuff they are putting in the birds in me or my ds.

http://www.reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/403854.html

This was about 10 minutes of googling I am sure I could come up with more and better examples if I cared to put in more time.

 

[greathorse]

I see nothing new here we all know that antibiotics are used to treat disease. I see no evidence in anything presented here that indicates hormones are used in chicken. There may be research to discover the efficacy and I am sure that if it were effective and legal there would be producers that would use homones. But lets leave is a simple fact that hormones are not used in poultry production at this time. Not effective and not allowed.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
Joel Salatin tells a story of a group of researchers who wanted to test his processed birds against conentional commercial poultry. They contacted a number of conventional producers and were turned down flat. So, they did the best they could and purchased various brands from various grocery stores, and tested them against Salatins.

A huge percentage of the conventionally raised and butchered birds tested positive for various pathogens, including Salmonella. None of Salatin's birds did.

And here is the kicker... Joel was so confident he offered to even let them test the chickens' feces. Even the chicken poop turned up Salmonella free.

So, while you may have never seen a backyard processing system that is cleaner than the big processing houses, there is apparently at least one that beats them hands down.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Wow... I've stayed out of this topic becuase I thought it was soley about Consumer Reports! Dang it, I hate when I miss a good post!!!

Anyhow, Buster... I tip my hat to you. I can't wait until you get your operation going... a Librarian... turning to a farmer! Such an awesome wealth of knowledge that you will bring to your buisness. Everything that I read that I disagreed to... you answered it! LOL....

I do understand most peoples points in this debate and see both sides. I guess it comes down to your personal beliefs.

First off... not every factory farm produces contaminated birds. That point was already proven by consumer reports. But I hate to say it, I will not buy meat from any farmer... unless I can see it myself... that goes for back yard producers too! I've seen some hokey backyard set-ups... some work perfect.... some don't. It comes down to knowledge... how to process your chickens/animals, discenfectants, and lots of ICE! If I ever walked up and seen a bucket of meat sitting out in the sun on a 70 degree day... with no ice... I would run. If I would ever see animals ankle deep in manure, I would run. If I ever seen a report that Tysons birds were contaminated... I would run.

Factory farms are a great thing for todays society. Before we start to bash them, think of what they do. These farms feed billions of people worldwide. Now, I honestly can say... I despise them... and will not support them... but I do respect them. They do what the average farmer can not. They feed billions of people, on a little bit of land... for pennies. I mean, I just went to the store the other day and seen turkey for $0.32 / pound

These farms are great for not just feeding people, but they give me the oppurtunity to supply to a niche. With out factory farms, lets face it, I wouldn't be selling my eggs for $3.50 / dozen or turkeys for $4.00 / pound... If everyone did things the "right way" I would be no different than Tyson or Perdue...

Secondly, let's get the USDA thing out of the way because not too many people touched the topic. For me, the USDA is a JOKE... HACCP... is a Joke... the whole system is broke in my opinion. But again, I respect it.... it is our governments way of protecting us right? And again, If it wasn't for the USDA being a broken system... I would be out of buisness. In the last 10 years think of all of the food recalls that has been pulled from the shelves... crazy right? How many people has the USDA killed... becuase they didn't do their job? Ummmm.... the average is 5,700 / year... But it's ok... as long as you rinse it well and cook it good you will be ok...

Hormones and antibiotics.... ya that's another story. Hormones are banned in poultry by USDA.... YAY.... They did something right. All thanks to Tyson for trying to take full advantage of the fact that hormones were never really used in poultry.... It's not economical. Becuase you know what, if it was... a chicken company would be using them!

Now the antibiotics has me stumped... Lazy J.... being in the feed buisness you of all people should know that antibiotics are used in poultry feed as a preventative....??? Hardly is it used to treat... it's used from day one till they day they are processed. It's mainly used as a growth stimulant... but the truth is... it's an antibiotic that is routinely used subtherapeutically Fact, End of story...

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2002/2002-12-10-10.asp

Oddly enough... Consumer reports is in this one too.... seems to me that it's more than just a bad day at the press.... People want to hear about their food, more than ever so to speak. I see these kinds of articles day in and day out.

Good clean food, comes from good clean farms.... from good honest people. If you can see the farm... or can have a hand in how it's processed than by all means make a good decision on whether or not to feed it to your family. It doesn't take a rocket scientest to figure out good food from bad.

Oh and by the way, Polyface did a study on their birds to show the difference in contamination... Oh man... It was night and day. I will try to find the results. In the meantime... here is a quote from him

"So far, not one case of food-borne pathogens has been reported among the thousands of
pastured poultry producers, many of whom have voluntarily had their birds analyzed.
Routinely, these home-dressed birds, which have not been treated with chlorine to
disinfect them, show numbers far below industry comparisons. At Polyface, we even
tested our manure and found that it contained no salmonella."

So to say backyard poultry producers aren't doing a better job than industial food systems is just plain ignorance. They aren't all perfect but I can't remember the last time I heard of someone getting sick from a chicken that came from a local farmer. You can believe what you want but there is a better way...

.... Here it is.... I remember him explaining this in the movie FOOD INC... I believe he gives exact numbers on the tested birds.

"Meanwhile, Salatin believes it is critical that farmers challenge inconsistencies in the inspection process. When a Virginia state inspector 12 years ago declared that the Polyface poultry slaughter area was unsanitary because it was not enclosed, Salatin fought that decision. A university lab conducted swab tests at Polyface and on government-inspected poultry purchased from a supermarket, and found that the supermarket birds averaged 10 times more bacteria than the Polyface samples. Salatin won the case."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2599784/

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
Joel Salatin tells a story of a group of researchers who wanted to test his processed birds against conentional commercial poultry. They contacted a number of conventional producers and were turned down flat. So, they did the best they could and purchased various brands from various grocery stores, and tested them against Salatins.

A huge percentage of the conventionally raised and butchered birds tested positive for various pathogens, including Salmonella. None of Salatin's birds did.

And here is the kicker... Joel was so confident he offered to even let them test the chickens' feces. Even the chicken poop turned up Salmonella free.

So, while you may have never seen a backyard processing system that is cleaner than the big processing houses, there is apparently at least one that beats them hands down.

You know what Buster.... Let me chime in somethin next time... sheesh.... Know it all!!

You beet me to the punch!!

 

[dichotomymom]

"what about hemp overalls?" Hey buddy, some things are sacred

 

[Bossroo]

Hey, look behind you! there are millions of pathogens all around all of us as we speak just looking for an oportunity to pounce for every second of every day. The common cold comes to mind as an example. This is true where the backyard chicken raiser has his flock as well as commercial producers. Some do a better job at keeping their environment as pathogen free as possible and some are worse at it or just plain ignorant of the dangers. Those that produce a product that makes one sick will face the consumers' wrath and be soon out of business and/or be in jail. The commercial producers have entire professional pathogen fighting armies at their beck and call to defeat the enemy and they do produce chickens by the millions. Most small backyard growers ask questions and utilise this knowledge to fight back and some just plain luck out. We have a wonderful immune system and learned how to cook our food properly or we wouldn't be here. I am still in awe that I survived my first week of being on my own after I flew the coop.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
You are far too kind, Jeff. It's all book knowledge. A librarian doesn't know everything, they just know where to look for it. All of the practical stuff I have learned from people like you and Al and Jaku and Sandspoultry and Steve of same and...

Oh, and my birds have taught me a thing or two.

I would quibble with you about this just being a matter of cost. The costs of conventional agriculture are very high. They are just hidden, in form of subsidies, pollution (including ocean dead zones), health costs, and depletion of finite fossil fuels. It is completely unsustainable, meaning (as Michael Polan would say) it can't go on this way.

But that's probably grist for a discussion in Random Thoughts as opposed to one on meat birds.