The USDA Has Been Wrong About Bacteria Since 1906
Surely the government of this blessed land is never wrong!
In 1906 the USDA passed The Pure Food and Drug Act of… 1906. This act brings sellers of meat under attack unless they process their product in a very cold or very hot environment. Seems like a good idea, right?
Wrong.
And this article in The New York Times beautifully explains why.
If I really am dedicated to cooking by the seasons and supporting local agriculture, I thought, now would be the obvious time to buy a whole pig. Ideally, I would break it down into primal cuts, put the hams in salt for the next month, and then hang them at room temperature for two years, allowing them to slowly dry into prosciutto. And why not grind up the dark, fatty shoulders with salt, pepper and juniper, stuff the mixture into casings, and then leave the sausages in a cool room for six weeks to naturally ferment, developing delicious, tangy porcine flavors?
I can’t, because the United States Department of Agriculture and the local health departments do not allow commercial processing of meat without refrigeration.
This is astonishing, because since Neolithic times, people have safely cured and preserved meats without refrigeration. Europeans have turned curing into an art, and the best processors are revered craftsmen who earn national medals of honor. Salt, time and a good dose of fresh air are the only additions needed to produce salsicce, culatello and 24-month-old prosciutto or serrano — foods that Americans smuggle home from Europe in their luggage.
The full article is an eye opener.
Cure Me - New York Times
Technorati Tags: meat, process, cure, salt, food, production, FDA
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POSTED IN: Food, Prevention, Technology
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