90% of Ground Turkey Meat Contaminated With Drug-Resistant Bacteria (May 10, 2013)

90% of Ground Turkey Meat Contaminated With Drug-Resistant Bacteria

Fresh on the heels of the recent admission by health authorities and news media outlets that 50% of all beef and pork tested in supermarkets are contaminated with potentially deadly MRSA bacteria…

…Consumer Reports is now reporting that 90% of all raw ground turkey meat tested by their researchers turned out to be contaminated with up to five different bacterial pathogens, most of which were drug-resistant forms.

Can colloidal silver help? Here’s the good news…

Hi, Steve Barwick here, for The Silver Edge…

According to a news article published in the Science section of Business Insider:

“Ground turkey bought at retail stores nationwide contains disease-causing bacteria, a new study by Consumer Reports suggests.

At least one disease-causing strain of bacteria was found on 90% of ground turkey samples.

They tested 257 samples of ground turkey from 21 states and 27 different brands for the presence of five different
bacteria: campylobacter, salmonella, staphylococcus aureus; Enterococcus; and Escherichia coli.

These bacteria can cause food poisoning but also urinary, bloodstream, and other potentially serious infections.” (See the Consumer Reports testing results, here.)

Even scarier, almost all of those bacteria were resistant to at least one – and usually multiple – antibiotic drugs, the report says.”

Is Colloidal Silver Effective?

Fortunately, the five bacteria named in the report, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus and Escherichia coli have all been demonstrated to one extent or another to be susceptible to antimicrobial silver.

Here’s what you need to know:

Campylobacter – There’s not a lot in the medical literature about colloidal silver and Campylobacter. However, the company that produces Axen 30, an EPA-approved topical disinfectant composed of a stabilized form of ionic silver, had their product independently tested in accord with EPA standards, and found that it killed Campylobacter as well as numerous other pathogens in both two minute and five minute test periods. Another topical disinfectant product, called IV-7, also claims that it’s stabilized ionic silver product produces “complete kill” against Campylobacter jejuni.

Salmonella – Researchers at Brigham Young University tested colloidal silver against Salmonella and found it to be highly effective at very low concentrations. What’s more, a clinical study titled “Colloidal Silver as a New Antimicrobial Agent” published in the International Journal of Microbiological Research, found that colloidal silver was highly effective against Salmonella typhi, as well as three other disease-causing pathogens. You can read my previous article on Colloidal Silver and Salmonella, documenting these fascinating studies, here.

Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli – Numerous clinical studies have demonstrated antimicrobial silver to be highly effective against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (i.e. E. coli). See for example, this study and this study and this study and this study . Even multi-drug-resistant forms of these two pathogens have been demonstrated to be susceptible to antimicrobial silver (see this study). For even more studies, you can read my previous article on Colloidal Silver and E. coli, here. And finally, see the clinical evidence for colloidal silver’s effectiveness against the drug-resistant form of Staphylococcus aureus, here.

Enterococcus – While there’s not much clinical literature on the use of colloidal silver against Enterococcus, a water quality company called NVID International tested ionic silver against numerous pathogens including Enterococcus faecium, and found it to be highly effective. What’s more, a time-kill study conducted at the University of North Texas found colloidal silver to be highly effective against Enterococcus faecalis. Finally, the EPA-approved topical disinfectant silver products mentioned earlier, Axen-30 and IV-7, both claim their products have tested effective against VRE, the drug-resistant form of the Enterococcus pathogen (see here and here).

Keep in mind that all of these eye-opening studies were in vitro laboratory studies (i.e., test tube studies), or topical disinfectant studies, or water quality studies. They were not internal ingestion studies.

Nevertheless, these studies strongly indicate the astonishing effectiveness of antimicrobial silver against the five pathogens now know to be contaminating up to 90% of the ground turkey meat found in supermarkets.

How to Protect Your Family

Most people understand that cooking raw meat thoroughly after preparation is the safest and most sure-fire way to kill these pathogens and avoid food poisoning. It is handling the meat before cooking that can be problematic.

As Dr. Tara Smith, an assistant professor of Epidemiology at the University of Iowa has stated, “Anyone handling raw meats should be careful about cross-contamination of cooking areas or other food products, and should make sure hands are washed before touching one’s face, nose, lips, etc.”

In other words, while thoroughly cooking the meat may well kill the pathogen, it can nevertheless get spread all over your kitchen during the preparation phase, contaminating cutting boards and counter tops, sinks and faucets and even kitchen utensils while you’re preparing the meat for cooking.

And the pathogens can quite easily get transferred from the raw meat to your hands, and then to your face, giving them access to your body through your eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc.

Dr. Stuart Levy, M.D., a Tufts University Professor of Microbiology, points out that food-borne pathogens often thrive on the surface of skin, so you can end up contracting an unwanted infection simply by touching contaminated raw meat.

What’s more, such an infection can go invasive if you have a cut on your hand, or if you unconsciously touch your contaminated hand to your eye, ear or nose.

Patting your child on the head as he or she walks by while you’re preparing raw meat products for cooking can also transfer the pathogens from you own skin onto theirs.

What’s more, family members can also contract the pathogens by inadvertently touching the kitchen countertop or cutting board where you were preparing the meat before cooking, or even by touching the kitchen sink or faucets, or any of the utensils you used.

Here’s Where Colloidal Silver Comes in Handy

This is where having plenty of colloidal silver on hand can come in handy.

Simply spraying kitchen countertops, cutting boards, sinks, faucets, and other “touch surfaces” with colloidal silver before and after handling raw meats in the kitchen can go a long way toward eliminating the potential for infection.

Washing your hands in warm soapy water, and then washing the cutting board, the kitchen counter top, and any utensils involved in the meat preparation process will help clean the pathogens away, to a great extent.

But for maximum protection, spraying one’s hands with colloidal silver after washing, and then spraying the kitchen cutting board, countertop, utensils, sink and other contact surfaces with colloidal silver after washing will provide a powerful added layer of protection that will let you sleep soundly at night.

Simply by keeping a pump spray bottle full of colloidal silver next to your kitchen food preparation area, and using it when preparing meats and other foods, you can do much to protect your home and your family from potential infections and food-borne illnesses.

Plus, if you or a family member were to ever contract a nasty food-borne infection from one of these bacteria (God forbid!), you’ll likely be able to cure it yourself with your homemade colloidal silver. (Warning: Food-borne infections can be very serious. Never wait too long to see a doctor if a serious infection takes place.)

As I mentioned in my previous article on MRSA-contaminated meats, you simply can’t afford to wait for the meat processing industry to do something about the growing problem of bacteria-contaminated raw meat. It’s a problem that’s likely going to get a lot worse before it ever gets better.

You have to take matters into your own hands, for the safety and well-being of your family.

Make sure colloidal silver plays a central role in your after-preparation food clean up, and you’ll slash your family’s risks of food-borne illness dramatically.

To learn how to make your own high-quality micro-particle colloidal silver, quickly and easily, in the comfort and privacy of your own home, and for less than 36 cents a quart, just click the link in this sentence.

Meanwhile, I’ll be back next week with another great article on colloidal silver…

Yours for the safe, sane and responsible use of colloidal silver,
Steve Barwick Signature
Steve Barwick, author
The Ultimate Colloidal Silver Manual

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Important Note and Disclaimer: The contents of this Ezine have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Information conveyed herein is from sources deemed to be accurate and reliable, but no guarantee can be made in regards to the accuracy and reliability thereof. The author, Steve Barwick, is a natural health journalist with over 30 years of experience writing professionally about natural health topics. He is not a doctor. Therefore, nothing stated in this Ezine should be construed as prescriptive in nature, nor is any part of this Ezine meant to be considered a substitute for professional medical advice. Nothing reported herein is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The author is simply reporting in journalistic fashion what he has learned during the past 17 years of journalistic research into colloidal silver and its usage. Therefore, the information and data presented should be considered for informational purposes only, and approached with caution. Readers should verify for themselves, and to their own satisfaction, from other knowledgeable sources such as their doctor, the accuracy and reliability of all reports, ideas, conclusions, comments and opinions stated herein. All important health care decisions should be made under the guidance and direction of a legitimate, knowledgeable and experienced health care professional. Readers are solely responsible for their choices. The author and publisher disclaim responsibility and/or liability for any loss or hardship that may be incurred as a result of the use or application of any information included in this Ezine.