On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 22:49:34 -0800, Mark Thorson >
wrote:

>Omelet wrote:
>> Mark, have you ever left a sterile petri dish full of media open to the
>> air for even 10 or 15 minutes then incubated it?
>>
>> Bacteria float around on dust motes in the air from a number of sources.
>> Same goes for mold spores.
>
>That's contamination, not "natural bacteria".
>It's no more dangerous than other stuff made from
>chopped and ground meat.

That's true as can be, Mark. However, its not safe to eat any chopped
or ground meats raw. That was my point.

When I referred to "natural bacteria", I meant that which was not
introduced on purpose by man. Following that line of reasoning, when
meat is in a solid piece, it has little if any bacteria inside it.
When exposed to ambient air, the bacteria which floats around us
constantly lands on it and infects the outside of each cut piece.

When those cut pieces are combined to again look like whole meat, that
bacteria is now on the inside of the meat and will remain viable if
cooked and eaten rare.

The public is being fooled into thinking that the newly "whole" meat
is safe as any other real whole meat and might eat it rare and get
sick or die from doing so.

That is the point they are trying to make I believe.