South Carolina cooks may want to be extra cautious when cooking meat after considering a new report that showed more than a third of all retail meat nationwide from 2019 to 2021 tested positive for potentially harmful bacteria.
According to a report from Trace One, a regulatory compliance software company for the food and beverage sector, South Carolina has the nation’s second-highest risk index of contamination, 67.85, only beaten by Georgia, which has a risk index of 69.05. A higher score indicates greater contamination risk. The data comes from a Trace One analysis of data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System between 2019 and 2021.
“South Carolina’s ranking reflects how retail meat contamination can vary widely across states due to factors like production methods, transportation and storage conditions, labor practices, and the strength of local oversight,” Erika Redaelli, Trace One’s global head of solution management, regulatory and scientific affairs told the Charleston City Paper.
Meats with the highest risk of bacteria are poultry products, the most common being chicken and turkey. Trace One analyzed 324 South Carolina chicken samples for both salmonella and campylobacter. Ninety samples, or 27.8%, tested positive for at least one of the two bacteria. Nationally, 22.2% of retail chickens tested positive for such bacteria. Pork chops and ground beef tested the lowest for salmonella in S.C.
Harmful bacteria in retail meat can lead to widespread foodborne illness. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 48 million people in the United States get sick from foodborne illnesses each year. Of these, approximately 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die.
“While a positive test for bacteria doesn’t necessarily mean the meat will cause illness — especially when it’s handled and cooked properly — it does point to broader challenges in maintaining food safety,” Redaelli said.
Budget cuts threaten efforts
Ensuring the safety of the food supply requires scientific monitoring, regulatory oversight and public health infrastructure. It’s a shared responsibility between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the FDA to watch over the food supply.
“Continued investment from both the public and private sectors in testing, food safety technology, and workforce training is critical to reducing risk and protecting consumers nationwide,” Redaelli said.
But the agencies are now facing budget cuts that threaten their ability to monitor pathogens, investigate outbreaks and enforce safety standards, the report stated.
Meat can become contaminated with bacteria at several points during the production process, most often during slaughter, handling, or packaging. Bacteria from the animal’s intestinal tract can spread to the meat surface if sanitation procedures aren’t followed. Contamination can also occur through contact with unclean equipment, workers’ hands, or water used in processing facilities.
The S.C. Department of Public Health collects retail meat to test for bacteria. But it’s not a test for contamination because all of the organisms are already expected to be in raw meat products, the agency told the Charleston City Paper in a statement.
Instead, the goal is to monitor antibiotic resistance of intestinal organisms and provide information that helps ensure antibiotics remain effective for treating infections.
Known as multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains, antibiotic-resistant bacteria make it significantly harder to treat infections and can increase the risk of hospitalization or death.
The report said increased use of antibiotics in livestock production causes this issue. Among all bacteria, salmonella had the highest overall MDR rate at 35.5%, followed by E. coli (26.0%), enterococcus (15.3%) and campylobacter (13.6%).
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