What is the E. coli risk for grass-fed beef?
Studies show that grass-fed cattle have dramatically fewer E. coli in their intestines than any sort of grain-fed cattle. Grain-fed cattle develop abnormally high stomach acidity, which allows for the development of acid-resistant E. coli. If these E. coli should happen to get into a human digestive system, our stomach acid is no match for their strength and we get sick. But grass-fed cattle have a healthy stomach acidity, which means that even if by rare chance you are exposed to E. coli, your stomach’s natural acidity will kill the bacteria. Finally, because our animals are kept apart from any grain-fed cattle at harvest time, there is no chance that they will be contaminated once they leave the pasture. Please note that despite the health of our animals, we always recommend the proper storage, handling and cooking of meat.
