I am not completely naive about food production, but this seems beyond the pale. What is particularly appalling is how clearly they emphasize cost control over food safety. The labeling issue is also disturbing. I thought that was one thing we were doing right, for those who care to read it. The hamburger that paralyzed this woman, sold as Angus beef, had everything but the bathroom plunger in it yet was labeled with only one ingredient: beef.

I also did not know the USDA's dual role. And you can see which one they emphasize.

>None of the food you eat is healthy. It's dead! Dead is not a healthy state.
>
>>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=cargill&st=cse
>>
>>Usually I give very little thought to the healthiness of the food I eat. For some reason this got my attention. It's disgusting! This story is about a woman who was left paralyzed by a hamburger with E coli. It sheds unwelcome light on the slapdash nature of meat inspection and the blatant misrepresentation of product contents. A few excerpts ---
>>
>>The frozen hamburgers that the Smiths ate, which were made by the food giant Cargill, were labeled “American Chef’s Selection Angus Beef Patties.” Yet confidential grinding logs and other Cargill records show that the hamburgers were made from a mix of slaughterhouse trimmings and a mash-like product derived from scraps that were ground together at a plant in Wisconsin. The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria.
>>
>>....
>>
>>Unwritten agreements between some companies appear to stand in the way of ingredient testing. Many big slaughterhouses will sell only to grinders who agree not to test their shipments for E. coli, according to officials at two large grinding companies. Slaughterhouses fear that one grinder’s discovery of E. coli will set off a recall of ingredients they sold to others.
>>
>>....
>>
>>The meat industry treats much of its practices and the ingredients in ground beef as trade secrets. While the Department of Agriculture has inspectors posted in plants and has access to production records, it also guards those secrets. Federal records released by the department through the Freedom of Information Act blacked out details of Cargill’s grinding operation that could be learned only through copies of the documents obtained from other sources. Those documents illustrate the restrained approach to enforcement by a department whose missions include ensuring meat safety and promoting agriculture markets.
>>
>>(emphasis mine at end)