Spoiled meat, e-coli found in barbecue kits

Animal rights organization Wakker Dier found five cases of spoiled meat and four cases of E-coli in barbecue packs after testing 21 samples, the organization announced on Thursday. "Wakker Dier is seriously concerned, because BBQ meat is often not properly heated. Annually an estimated 200,000 people get a food infection from eating meat, and often during barbecuing", the organization wrote. Wakker Dier had an independent sample bureau buy barbecue packs from different major Dutch supermarkets. They bought seven packs with fresh, unprocessed meats totaling in 21 meat samples. This meat was sent for indicative laboratory analysis. According to the organization, many of the samples contained traces of bacterial contamination. In four samples they found the E-coli bacteria, three of these samples came from packs for children. In five of the samples there were clear signs of spoiling. These samples had a total bacteria count per gram of 12 million in a pork skewer, 13 million in a chicken sate, 15 million in a sausage, 29 million in a beef stake and a massive 300 million in a beef sate. The general limit for germ count in meat is 10 million per gram, anything above that the meat is considered doubtful or spoiled. This test found no traces of MRSA, ESBL Salmonella or Listeria. But according to Wakker Dier, this was only a small test and this does not exclude the possibility that these bacteria can be found in barbecue packs. The organization advises consumers to not be guided by supermarkets offers of cheap BBQ meat and to rather go for a vegetarian BBQ. "This is better for the animals and reduces the risk of food poisoning.