A new study funded by the Pew Charitable Trust purports to show
that half of retail meat samples were contaminated with Staph
aureus, a bacterium that can cause illness. The authors of the
Pew study, who are consultants to the Pew campaign, largely
composed of members opposed to modern livestock production
practices, including antibiotic use, admitted the public health
implications of their findings were unclear. The study found
Methicillin-resistant Staph aureus (MRSA) bacterium on just one
sample each of beef, pork and turkey. There were just 136
samples of beef, chicken, pork and turkey purchased from grocery
stores in five cities. Elizabeth Wagstrom, DVM, and Peter
Davies, DVM, with the University of Minnesota College of
Veterinary Population Medicine, pointed out that the MRSA
isolates identified in the study were human types, meaning the
meat was likely contaminated by a person. They also determined
the type of MRSA found was resistant to antibiotics not approved
for use nor used in U.S. food production