If this doesn’t make you stop eating those burgers, I don’t know what would. 
Here is an excerpt from a conversation in the movie “Fast Food Nation” - the movie is based on Eric Schlosser’s 2001 book with the same title.
[Background: Mr. Anderson (Greg Kinnear) is sent on an investigative trip, by his boss, to a meat packing factory to figure out how fecal coliform bacteria were found in some of their burgers]
According to EPA website - “fecal coliforms and E. coli only come from human and animal fecal waste.”
*****
Anderson (to Rudy): How…could cow manure get into the meat?
Rudy (to Rita): Mr. Anderson here would like to know if the meat over there is clean. He wants to know how cow manure could ever possibly wind up in his hamburger.
Rita (to Anderson): Well, there’s lots of ways. My brother used to work at the gut table…and, you know, they have to pull out the intestines and the stomachs…and they just don’t have enough time to do it right. The line is moving too fast. So when they are pulling the guts out - and they make a mistake - all the poop and stuff just pours out all over the meat.
Anderson: Okay, okay, okay…all right. But, really, how often does that happen?
Rita: Everyday…anything else you want to know?
*****
I sense some indigestion in my stomach right now. 
There is another interesting converstation between Mr. Anderson and Harry Rydell (Bruce Willis), but before that here is a quick video on a hamburger’s journey from the cows to your car - in a fast rewind mode.
Now, on to the juicy conversation between Mr. Anderson and Harry (while they are savoring some burgers).
*****
Anderson: Harry the meat is filthy. Do you know they got untrained people working at the gut table? Yeah, I mean - Harry, there is sh*t in our meat.
Harry: I think there might be a little bit of sh*t right here in this meat. Just a teeny little bit. Microscopic. [Later] There’s always been a little sh*t in the meat. You’ve probably been eating it your whole life.
[After a few more lines]
Anderson: Listen, there is cow sh*t in our meat because we are running the lines too fast.
Harry: Just cook it. That’s all you need to do. You see? That’s one of the things that’s bugging me about this country. really bugging me. Americans have become these great big fraidy cats. Afraid of everything. Everything’s got to be sterile and germfree. Well, everybody needs to grow up. That’s what they need. [Later] Just cook the meat and you will be fine.
*****
There..now how do you like them burgers?
Now, this is Eric Schlosser’s side of the story (dramatized in the movie) - and obviously the fast food industry refutes his version. To counter “Fast Food Nation”, some folks have come up with a website called “Best Food Nation” (you won’t see any big fast food names here - they are probably hiding behind these guys). Best Food Nation categorically claims that “Ground beef is contaminated with cattle feces” is a myth. But you know, they also claim that “Fast food is a major factor in the increase of obesity in the U.S.” is a myth.
I am sure my wise readers know who is lying and who is not.
To bias you a little bit, on Sunday, USDA reported a Class I (high risk) recall of about 75,000 pounds of ground beef on the suspicion that it might be contaminated with E. coli. So such things do happen. Probably, there may be cases in which stuff like this goes unnoticed in burgers (unlike the spinach episode) - just because people cook them before eating.
Anyways, before we bring this post to an end, here are some money facts as claimed by the book/movie:
- Americans now spend more money on fast food - $110bn last year - than they do on higher education. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos and recorded music - combined. (the movie which was released 5 years after the book reported an updated number of $134 billion)
- Fast food industry leads the US in low pay jobs while fighting any minimum wage increase.
- Meatpacking is some of the most dangerous work in US, but pays 24% less than an average factory job.
Did I save you some bucks on future fast food expenses? 
Image source: www.wisconsin.co.nz
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Nice post title. But to answer your question:
No, I’m not going to stop eating burgers. Here is why:
a) They are delicious. Burgers are my favorite food/
b) I really don’t care what is in them. It can’t be any worse than what is in hot dogs. My brother in law worked at a local hot dog manufacturer for a year. Almost everything made it in to the pot.
c) I have not sufferred any ill effects from eating them for years and niether has the general public.
d) Fecal Coliforms in food is over-hyped. This bacteria is everywhere. The Mythbusters show (Discovery Channel - one of my favorite shows) tested for this bacteria on a bathroom floor, toilet seat, work room, desk, dog’s mouth, and one of the host’s month. They found it everywhere. In fact, the host’s mouth was one of the worst, with more of the bacteria than the dog’s mouth or even the toilet seat. Sure, this stuff getting in to food is disgusting. There are certain health standards and the vast majority of packing plants meet these guidlines.
What you might find more disgusting is that there are actually more lenient restrictions on restaurants and they still manage to fail inspections at a higher rate than factories. In addition, its not the fast food joints that fail, its the larger restaurants. A local intalian place has faild inspections almost once a year for 5-10 years and they are still in business.
If you really care about these things, you can still eat meat, just eat it at home.
Okay everybody: read the above response. When you’re done, read it again. Keep re-reading it until you have a moment of clarity. Then apply the fundamental truth it contains to second-hand smoke, asbestos, grilling char, carbon-dioxide, saccharine, and every other stinking thing we’re supposed to live in fear of and SNAP THE HELL OUT OF IT!!
What disturbs me most is broknowrchlatr saying “a) They are delicious. Burgers are my favorite food/ b) I really don’t care what is in them.” That is seriously f**ked up.
Burgers are a fine meal once in a while, but you’d have to be seriously stupid person for them to be your favorite food. Broknowrchlatr is that person.
Then, to state you don;t care what’s in them? Well, come on over to my place man, and I’ll serve you a burger!
Despite his tasteless and mindless expression of devotion to a foodstuff fed to 5 year olds to shut them up, there is a really sound point in the article - and that is COOK THE FOOD.
Most especially this applies to burgers more than any other type of meat. Grinding meat distributes whatever bacteria are on the surface, all the way through the meat. That is why it is safe to cook an old steak, because the bacteria are only on the surface, and you can cook it pink on the inside and you have killed all the bugs…
Not so with a burger patty: they must be cooked all the way through - no pink whatsoever. If you like your patties anything less than cooked all the way through, then you are almost certain to fall very ill at some point due to food poisoning.
I almost went into a McDonalds! Thank you for your post!
But then again, we always read so many different horror fast food stories, yet we still end up going back there. We just never learn!
broknowrchlatr: I guess everybody draws a line at different levels, and your’s is much liberal than mine.
Your observation that restrictions are loose at restaurant level is duly noted. I have seen something similar in my area.
Corndogdriver: “then apply the fundamental truth it contains to second-hand smoke, asbestos, grilling char, carbon-dioxide, saccharine, and every other stinking thing we’re supposed to live in fear of”
No one said you need to live in fear of anything…but it doesn’t hurt to be aware of these things - sometimes awareness leads to public pressure, which in turn leads to improvements. If this wasn’t the case, we would still be drinking water through lead pipes, living in lead-based paint houses, and eating E.coli infected spinach and other things.
While it makes sense not to be fraidy cats, you should also keep in mind that there are pitfalls of not acknowledging potential dangers. Sometimes this lack of acknowledgment grows into a tendency called “recklessness”.
It’s a sad reality with what these fast food giants can get away with in terms of food and health regulations. They have millions and billions of dollars to sway political opinion in their favour. In the end, it’s all about dollars and cents.
Sure, FastFood may taste good and fill up my tummy pretty well, but in the end, I’ve made the right steps by eating healthier food without all that processed junk u can obviously find with Fast Foods. To add another point, everytime I visit America, I am appalled at how many fat people I see!
Billions of dollars a year spent on fast food. How much do we spend on health care issues arising out of our gluttony? High fat and low wage; a profitable recipe for them, a heart attack and borderline poverty for us. But, we must remember that fast food is one of the results of the problem, not THE problem. THE problem stems from our want it and want it now at any cost attitude about everything from money to food. We’re giving up an awful lot for instant gratification…
Did you know that farmers use animal and human waste as fertilizer for crops? Did you further know that this is acceptable for “organic” farming?
Either way its s**t in, s**t out.
Thanks for ruining White Castles for me!
broknowrchlatr: I am going to hunt for that Mythbusters episode. Are you sure if they were talking about “fecal” coliform or general coliform bacteria?
General coliform bacteria are found everywhere. They have a role to play in digestion - and obviously not all strains are harmful. So probably the Mythbusters did find coliform bacteria (may be a certain strain of E. coli) in healthy hosts, but they certainly did not find THE strain that is found in cattle intestine - the one that is particularly harmful. Also, I am pretty certain they did not care to check if the SAME strain was found in human mouth, dog mouth, and the toilet seat - I am pretty certain they were not the same - although all of them could be generally termed as “E. coli”
Here are some details from Wiki:
Now read the USDA recall again (in the post) and compare the strain of the bacteria - I think it is enough to kill some appetite (at least in some people)
As for how Mythbusters found fecal bacteria in a dog’s mouth - it’s obvious - I mean they lick certain unmentionables from time to time. How they found fecal bacteria in a human mouth? I have no idea - probably he/she/they didn’t wash hands after the last time they did their business (a common way of infecting yourself with fecal bacteria) or probably ate something that was infected with fecal bacteria.
lol, guess what, I am going to keep on eating those burgers babie, bring them on poop and all. Gotta love America
The only thing I am against though is typically eating at McDonalds. I dont know why but everytime I eat there I feel like I am killing myself, like literally killing myself. Does anyone else feel like this? Maybe I need help…
I do not eat fast food, and this just clarifies my stance on that! Yeesh…..
I think you have all missed a very important point here and that is that there is shit in our food because it is being processed to quickly. So in order to process this food so fast slauter houses are hiring cheep and unskilled labor, usually from another country like say Mexico. So it seems that a lot of these workers end up disabled as a result and guess who pays, not the meat packing industry!!
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