Are US Slaughterhouses Wetmarkets?

a reply to: abeverage

Now my theory.

1. You supplied a PETA hit piece example yet claim to be a meat eater, I think either you are in with PETA or support them or potential are heaven forbid a vegetarian!

Would be funny, but nope, love me some meat. At this point I'm just a few steps from being Keto naturally.
Also don't like PETA but they had the tidbit I wanted to post

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

It is possible that it could survive on meat for a while and be spread. There is no evidence of this that is accepted, but maybe they won't accept it as real because people need to eat to stay healthy. I did research on this, chickens probably cannot get this virus, although they do get colds. I checked that out, because I wanted to know if you could give this virus to a chicken and eat their eggs to get immunity through the antigens president in the eggs.....it works with avian flues. But I could not find anything to show they can, in fact I found some evidence that showed they can't.

I could not find anything about pork, seems like nobody has published anything notable, same with cows. Now cats and dogs yes. The cows eat a lot of grass, that should protect them. But those fed solely grain is a different story. Now no testing on cows has been done either. I wonder if they should take one of those antibody tests and check a cows blood for antibodies.

Llamas evidently have some sort of antibodies to this disease somehow, I think it was the SARS virus. They have been investigating this...now does that mean Llama milk might have antibodies? I do not know. We do not have to inject the antibodies into the body to be effective, in the gut, a virus response could actually happen if the stomach acid/enzyme quantity is not too high. I do not know.

The people producing our food are essential workers and I have always respected people who supply us with what we need in our society. Remember, real needs, not people who create software and video games, not those who make things we want, not need.

I worked in a meatpacking plant (cleaning) in high school. Some on the killing floor later.

The meatpackers were I lived ( heart of US beef production) were ultra-modern. Thermometers on everything, both infra-red (first remote thermometers I ever saw, in the 90s), as well as stainless steel. They take continuous temp readings, so they cannot be faked. like inside the burger grinder that does 100 pounds per 30 seconds, in a continuous stream.

The meat packer where I worked would shut everything down before falling "down to" federal limits. They never wanted to be accused of NOT always exceeding federal rules by a margin.

The E. coli thing in the 1990s KILLED beef consumption. The entire industry responded to the market. There hasn't been e coli contamination in 20 years in beef--nowadasys its all in greens and salads ( from using manure than hasn't transformed - its still #e - but is technically organic.).

They don't use bleach like you'd use in your laundry. They use Sodium Hypocholrite, which doesn't kill you if you accidentally ingest it, and kills bacteria on stainless steel better than anything. Clorox used to sell it as "spray anywhere" now sold as "anywhere." it is ok for food surfaces and doesn't need to be rinsed (breaks down in air I think)

I do my own meat processing of game and a steer or two a year. always clean my blades and the whole kitchen with this before and after. It is really the exact same product as in meat packing plants.

To make a short story long, the industry really is as clean as anything you ever saw. they have metal detectors to make sure that a saw doesn't lose a tooth into your lasagna, or a knife doesn't break and end up in your T-bone.

And butchers, the ones who use the actual knives are downright weird about their blades. I think they are legally liable if their blade infects meat, or pierces an intestine and spreads E. coli or something. I had a job in high school disinfecting a butcher shop. The butcher like, kept his knives locked up, and made me disinfect all the saw while he watched me. (you actually disinfect a saw by running a chunk of hard fat through it--lard is the antiseptic part of soap, basically).

actually sanitizing everything thoroughly is not conducive to making profit so they clean as best they can but keeping the assembly line going is more important to the company than making certain its as clean as it should be.

also, the guys who cut the 1000 lb steer in half use a giant chainsaw, and wear chain-mail trench coats. So the saw won't cut THEM in half it it falls on them.

I've seen it happen, sparks everywhere and profanity in Spanish at the top of their lungs. But no injury. Can't let anything get into the meat!

a reply to: Irishhaf

Not in my experience. The person contracting the packing specified how they wanted the stuff scrubbed down and kept a copy of the cleaning protocols. Samples of the meat, the disinfectant used, etc. They'd do a run for like 45 minutes max, running full speed, and then take everything down to clean it (when my crew went in). They sampled the rinse water for traces of blood....

a reply to: Graysen

Happy to be corrected.

Second.

To the OP's point, I think that cold steel may prove to be a breeding ground for germs.

Listeria is the bugaboo of milk product factories (ice cream v. Bluebell). It grows on steel that is always cold. Like an ice cream factory.

Actually mom and pop dairies don't get it, because they stop every shift and disinfect with hot water/bleach/etc.

I ran into this from giving my kids raw milk. Medical authorities (who do the bidding of corporate dairy) warn about listeria in raw milk; when raw milk is the product that DOESN'T have it. The only raw milk dairy that got listeria this decade was in Utah, and it was like hundreds of cows. Again with the cold holding temperatures....

I wouldn't be surprised if cold equipment fosters coronaviruses too. Like the common cold.

But meatpacking is also shoulder-to -shoulder.

The problem as I understand it with the wet markets is that Chinese culture values "fresh" as, you saw it butchered with your own eyes, so its not old.

So butchers end up with animals in cages next to each other for a week before slaughter....

I can tell you that Tyson has places all over Arkansas that have dormitories and English as a second language classrooms on their campuses. So people live, work and receive education together for months and months on end.

Other processing plants of other animals in other states...I doubt they are not hugely different. I know around 2005 nearly every sign in Chicago near a dock was written in English, Spanish, Polish and Russian (Eastern European Countries from the former Soviet Union)

a reply to: Ahabstar

So people live, work and receive education together for months and months on end.

Well that would most certainly add to the increase in infection rates. Almost a cruise ship like situation.
Never heard about the dorms before, kinda sad when you think about it.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

That they do.

I worked for a couple of differing commercial fishing companies.

The conditions are nothing even resembling those Chinese wet markets. There is, quite simply, far too much regulations, and regulating, done for that to occur.

One of those companies I worked for was fined 250,000 dollars for drainage issues not even associated with production of food...

That was a quarter of a million dollars per offense...4 offences. Pricey. Guess what happened to end of year bonuses?? Got it in one.

Bad wiring in another plant was something like 15 grand if I remember correctly. The damage had occurred only that day, and the plant electrician hadn't been able to fix it yet...OSHA inspector/surprise inspection. Ooops.

The other company I worked for was a Japanese floating processor that made Surimi--The prime ingredient in fake crab and lobster... nasty process. But the cleanliness that is required by US standards is impressive. I worked in quality control--trust me when I say, standards are steep.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

Before I post this, let me say I am a huge meat eater.

www.peta.org...

Staff are often obligated to keep up with dangerous slaughter speeds and stomach unethical, revolting practices. Many become mentally unwell, even suicidal, and workplace safety records indicate that U.S. slaughterhouse employees are three times more likely to sustain serious injury than the average American worker. All this, and now they have to worry about becoming infected with COVID-19 as well.

You are a meat eater and you quote Peta?

If it comes from bats, it doesn't come from cows...just saying...

originally posted by: seagull
The other company I worked for was a Japanese floating processor that made Surimi--The prime ingredient in fake crab and lobster... nasty process.

I've seen that in person. Mmmmmmm, extruded fish stuff. Yum.

a reply to: JAGStorm

The old “They do jobs that Americans won’t do...”

160 some years ago there was a war about providing “room and board for some underpaid employees originally brought here from other countries that were doing jobs that Americans wouldn’t do”

originally posted by: putnam6

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Creep Thumper

www.theguardian.com...

'Dirty meat': Shocking hygiene failings discovered in US pig and chicken plants

www.businessinsider.com...

The meat industry is hiding a dark secret, as workers at 'America's worst job' wade through seas of blood, guts, and grease.............

• Roughly a third of America's workers in the meat industry are foreign-born non-citizens. These undocumented immigrants tend to be less likely to report problems and abuse, as well as join unions.

I assume you are supposing the healthiness of the meatpacking industry

Really comparing a place where all sorts of reptiles, mammals, and amphibians are caged and slaughtered together in an open market VS a federally regulated corporate specialized meat processing plant? Yes the potential is there but this isn't Sinclair's The Jungle anymore. Stuff is bleached and irradiated like crazy

Everyone should read "The Jungle"...where in early days workers could die, fall in a vat of fat....and go out to stores as "LARD"...

No rules, no laws, no oversight

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Try doing the process involved in an enclosed space, with incredible noise, and while pitching up and down in 12-13 foot seas...

"Fun" just about describes it, too...

But Toyo Suisan, based out of Tokyo, was paying me rather good money--even though I was "gaijin"--to do it, so I put up with it for the two month contract then walked away. That episode, and a few others, are the things that soured me a bit towards the older generations, prior to mine, of Japanese males.

In the early 80's I went to Singapore. I was doing some shopping (electronics) and went into a market. The first time I had ever seen live animals butchered on the spot for a customer. I was looking and shaking my head when a Police Officer asked me where I was from? I told him and he asked if we had the same thing? He explained that even in the 80's they had a lack of refrigeration and it was customary to go to the market, buy the meat, take it home and cook it immediately to prevent spoilage.

a reply to: JIMC5499

You can still get there here in many places. Walk in to a specialty butcher shop and get poultry, goat and other choices processed while you wait.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: abeverage

Now my theory.

1. You supplied a PETA hit piece example yet claim to be a meat eater, I think either you are in with PETA or support them or potential are heaven forbid a vegetarian!

Would be funny, but nope, love me some meat. At this point I'm just a few steps from being Keto naturally.
Also don't like PETA but they had the tidbit I wanted to post

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

HAHA

Ok you get a pass this time, but only because Bacon literally saved your Bacon...

a reply to: JAGStorm

What do you mean by sick exactly?

They tested the meat processing facility in the town my husband works in. Every single employee there tested as positive, but only 21 employees were actually what you would call ill. The rest of them were asymptomatic.

And that doesn't mean they are just not sick yet, but still positive. That means they're carrying the bug but it's not making them ill.