America: Eat Shit and Die

When Marc Maron sat in for Randi Rhodes on Halloween last week, he did a variation on his "America: All You Can Eat" riff:




Now, Maron may be on to something here, but the way things are going now, I'm starting to disagree that our slogan should be "America: All You Can Eat...Strictly Endorced....Worldwide", and instead should be "America: Eat Shit and Die."

A few weeks ago we saw the Topps Company go out of business after it recalled more than 21 million -- yes, you read that correctly -- 21 MILLION pounds of ground beef .

Now, Cargill, one of the biggest food processors in the country, is recalling a million pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with E Coli:

The agribusiness giant produced the beef between Oct. 8 and Oct. 11 at a plant in Wyalusing, Pa., and distributed it to retailers across the country. They include Giant, Shop Rite, Stop & Shop, Wegmans and Weis.

Cargill learned the meat may be contaminated after the Agriculture Department found a problem with a sample of the beef produced on Oct. 8, the company said. The bacteria is E. coli O157:H7.

A spokeswoman for Cargill said 10 states are included in the recall — Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

"We are working closely with the USDA to remove this product from the marketplace," Keating said in a statement. Spokeswoman Lori Fligge said the company had no further comment.

Amanda Eamich, a spokeswoman for the USDA Food and Safety Inspection Service, said her agency would work with Cargill to track about 1,084,384 pounds of beef that could be contaminated and remove it from store shelves.

"We do look in all directions to ensure that products that could be contaminated are not available to consumers," Eamich said.

On Oct. 6, Cargill voluntarily recalled more than 840,000 pounds of ground beef patties distributed at Sam's Club stores nationwide after four Minnesota children and four Wisconsin adults who ate the food developed E. coli illness, which is the same strain that was detected to prompt the latest recall.

A lawsuit is pending from that outbreak.

And that's not all -- 5 million frozen pizzas are being recalled because the pepperoni on them may contain E coli.

Ironic, isn't it, that it's America's favorite foods that are subject to this recall -- burgers and pizza? That tells us something, but I'm not sure what.

But this is what the Republican vision for less government looks like, folks. This is what deregulation of industry looks like. This is what happens when you let industry police itself. Free-market moonies may tell you that Topps going out of business is proof that the free market works, but I'm not sure that kids dying or being hospitalized (and therefore at risk from infections like MRSA) because of E coli contamination from the food they eat is a price our society wants to pay for such a "free market."