most people don't have a clue

This is a few years old, but I thought it was interesting given the recent spate of food poisonings in N. America. Most people I have encountered don't seem to have a clue, and since many of the more publicized recent outbreaks have occurred with vegetables, people are even more confused. Of course they don't realize most of their vegetables are grown in manure generated through factory farming.

[b]Chicken and beef may be infected with feces [/b]
- health notes - Brief Article
Nutrition Health Review, Summer, 2002

A new study shows that 84 percent of adults have no idea that the primary source of Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and other foodborne pathogens on poultry and meat is animal feces. The survey of 1,000 men and women was completed during July 2001 by Opinion Research Corporation International on behalf of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). Foodborne illnesses are at epidemic levels in the United States; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there are at least 76 million cases each year, usually from consumption of animal products.

"Our findings show the vast majority of Americans do not understand there are feces on in meat and poultry," says PCRM staff attorney Mindy Kursban. "In fact, there's a major disconnect in the public consciousness between the foodborne illnesses that sicken so many of us and their originating cause--animal excrement."

Survey respondents answered the following question: "When Salmonella and other disease-causing bacteria are found on meat and poultry, which of the following do you think BEST describes where these bacteria originally came from?"

The answers were as follows:

* They came from animal blood 10 percent
* They came from dirty hands 19 percent
* They are naturally present
in the meat 17 percent
* They are naturally present
in the animal's skin 9 percent
* They came from animal feces 16 percent
* They came from dirty air in a
slaughter house 15 percent
* Did not know/None of the above 13 percent

Statistically, respondents with college degrees, a household income equal to or greater than $50,000, or a metropolitan area residence were more likely to know that feces are the originating source of disease-causing bacteria.

PCRM proposes that all poultry and meat products carry a biohazard label (shown above). Such a procedure would be similar to how medical waste is treated.