Tainted Meat?
Here in C-town, we have an investigative reporter working for one of our local television stations. I have very little use for this guy or his so called stories, usually, I just hate him. Last night, he did an undercover special report about this man who sells meat out of the trunk of his car (or van, depending on how much product he has to hock). This man allegedly sells to private citizens as well as local bars and restaurants. He was shown dropping meat on the ground, driving around with it for hours at a time in an unrefridgerated vehicle, and cutting and packaging the meat in the dirty basement of his home. Once, they even followed him all the way to Erie, PA selling his tainted meat along the way. Apparently, he has been doing this for over 20 years under the radar of the USDA. Now, they are launching an investigation to shut him and others like him down, not because it is against the law, but because this news reporter had the meat tested and it was positive for the potentially lethal bacteria, Listeria. DUH! I think it is great to shut him down, but what I want to know is, who the hell is buying meat out of the back of someone’s car? What person or business would actually think beef, chicken, pork and shrimp from some guy’s car was ok, especially since he was selling it so incredibly cheap (considerably less than wholesale). I know, I know, a bargain is a bargain, but meat? Every other week, someone somewhere is on the news getting sick from improperly handled meat, and people are buying it out of cars? What? I know stupidness abounds, but come on, hot meat? Think people, a bargain isn’t a bargain if you die or end up with hundreds of dollars in medical bills! I can’t believe they have to put this on the news to warn people, shouldn’t common sense apply here? My first reaction is you reap what you sow, good riddance, but that doesn’t help the restaurant patrons and little children who have no idea a moron purchased and prepared their food. The silent victims are the ones I feel sorry for, the rest will get what they deserve and hopefully, so will the “basement butcher.” May he eat what he sells!
May 2nd, 2002 at 7:20 pm
Ha! My husband and I went to Savannah one weekend, and outside a package store was.. you guessed it! A guy selling meat from a truck.
And we thought the same thing. ” Are you mad ? ”