Odds are, when you go grocery shopping at any grocery story, you assume the meat you are buying is free of any potentially harmful bacteria.
A new study reports, however, that Summit County shoppers are more likely to come in contact with contaminated meat than otherwise imagined.
Ohio has one of the highest levels of contaminated grocery meat, a recent Trace One report confirmed. The state ranks eighth worst with an index score of 54.78 for risk of contaminated meat across the country, out of the 22 states that were compared.
An estimated 48 million people in the United States get sick from foodborne illnesses each year, according to Trace One, a software company specializing in the food and beverage, cosmetics, personal care, and chemical industries. Out of this 48 million people, about 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die every year, the company reported.
“Bacterial contamination of retail meat – particularly by pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli and Campylobacter – is a major contributor to this,” Trace One said in a press release.
Chicken is the most contaminated meat in Ohio, with 10.1% of chicken samples testing positive for Salmonella or Campulobacter, the report confirmed.
Trace One’s report ranks states by their relative retail meat contamination risk, using the latest data from the FDA’s National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS). It also analyzes contamination trends by meat type, and highlights antibiotic resistance patterns.
NARMS tracks bacterial contamination and antimicrobial resistance in retail meats. The data from Trace One’s latest report came from data collected 2019 through 2021, the most recent three-year period with complete data available for the analysis. The study looked at bacterial contamination across four different types of meats: chicken, ground turkey, ground beef and pork chops.
Which states have the highest risks for contaminated grocery meat?
Below are the 10 states with the highest risks of contaminated meat, sorted by index score:
Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@gannett.com, or on Twitter @athompsonABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Ohio shoppers at higher risk of purchasing contaminated grocery meat, study shows
Reporting by Anthony Thompson, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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