On Christmas Eve, 2009, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
announced some 248,000 pounds of tenderized beef were being
recalled and was eventually linked to 21 E. coli O157:H7
infections in 16 states. Needle or blade tenderized beef is
typically used on tougher cuts of beef or pork to break down
muscle fibers or to inject marinade into meat. About 50 million
pounds of needle- or blade-tenderized meat is produced in the
U.S. each month, according to a federal study, but it’s not
required to be labeled. All hamburger should be cooked to a
thermometer-verified 160F because it’s all ground up – the
outside, which can be laden with poop, is on the inside. With
steaks, the thought has been that searing on the outside will
take care of any poop bugs like E. coli and the inside is clean.
But what if needles pushed the E. coli on the outside of the
steak to the inside? Luchansky et al. wrote in the July 2009
Journal of Food Protection that based on inoculation studies,
cooking on a commercial gas grill is effective at