Majority of U.S. pork supply tainted with deadly drugs, bacteria

Steamed Rice Rolls with Pork Loaf and Sour Pork - Thien An, Footscray AUD8.50 (Photo credit: avlxyz)

(NaturalNews) The next time you reach for the bacon, ham, pork chops or pork steaks, you may want to rethink your dining choice: A majority of samples of "the other white meat" that were obtained in a recent study contained bacteria, potentially deadly drugs or a combination of both.

According to Consumer Reports, samples of U.S. pork chops and ground pork were found to contain substantial amounts of harmful, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, along with low levels of a type of growth hormone used on pigs.

"Our analysis of pork-chop and ground-pork samples from around the U.S. found that yersinia enterocolitica, a bacterium that can cause fever, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, was widespread. Some samples harbored other potentially harmful bacteria, including salmonella," the magazine said in a recent report.

No drugs should be used on healthy animals to promote growth

Of 198 samples, some of the bacteria found by the CR investigation were resistant to antibiotics that are commonly used to treat humans. That's likely due to the "frequent use of low-dose antibiotics in pork farming" which "may be accelerating the growth of drug-resistant 'superbugs' that threaten human health," said the magazine. Read more >>

Food prices rise sharply - and there's more to come

For the first time since 2008, inflation is hitting consumers in the stomach.

Grocery prices grew by more than 1 1/2 times the overall rate of inflation this year, outpaced only by costs of transportation and medical care, according to numbers released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Economists predict that this is only the beginning. Fueled by the higher costs of wheat, sugar, corn, soybeans and energy, shoppers could see as much as a 4 percent increase at the supermarket checkout next year.

"I noticed just this month that my grocery bill for the same old stuff - cereal, eggs, milk, orange juice, peanut butter, bread - spiked $25," said Sue Perry, deputy editor of ShopSmart magazine, a nonprofit publication from Consumer Reports. "It was a bit of sticker shock." More...