Most Supermarket Meat Contains Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, Study Finds

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are now common in the meat aisles of most American supermarkets and consumers should be concerned, according to research by the Environmental Working Group.

The EWG took data they say was "buried" in the federal government's National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System and found that a majority of store-bought meat tested in 2011 contained antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Eighty-one percent of raw ground turkey, 69 percent of raw pork chops, 55 percent of raw ground beef and 39 percent of raw chicken parts contained the antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the EWG reported.

The report's principal author, nutritionist Dawn Undurraga said, "These organisms can cause foodborne illnesses and other infections.  Worse, they spread antibiotic-resistance, which threatens to bring on a post-antibiotic era where important medicines critical to treating people could become ineffective."

Escherichia coli, also known as E. coli, were found to be common in all the retail meat products tested in the government study. EWG researchers reported that 53 percent of raw chicken samples had E. coli, a microbe that normally inhabits feces and can cause diarrhea, urinary tract infections and pneumonia.

According to a Forbes write up, nearly 90 percent of all store bought meat also had signs of normal and resistant Enterococcus faecium - a bacteria that indicates the product came in contact with fecal matter at some point during or after processing.

The EWG study also found that antibiotic-resistant salmonella in in chicken has increased since the last time a nationwide study was conducted, up to 74 percent from 50 percent in 2002.