TV Report Says Much
Ground "Beef" Is Not

NBC’s Dateline newsmagazine program on Monday reported that 29 of 100 ground "beef" packages purchased across the country last fall turned out to be adulterated with other meat.

The program sent shoppers to 10 metropolitan areas between August and November, had them purchase ground beef, then sent samples to a Florida laboratory for analysis. Results showed up to 25 percent of some samples to be meat other than beef, including pork, lamb and poultry.

Such mixing is a violation of both state and federal laws if the end product is sold as pure ground beef. In addition to the false advertising and/or fraud aspects of the practice, both pork and poultry require more thorough cooking than beef for safety reasons, which means that consumers who unknowingly purchase mixed meat are exposed to a greater health risk.