K A S H R U T . C O M_©

Do you really want to know what's in your burger?

May 11, 2016 from the CNBC and Clear Labs:
Clear Labs examined 258 samples of burgers from 79 brands and 22 different retailers. The samples included ground meat, frozen patties, veggie burgers and fast food burgers.
Clear labs "determined that 6.6 percent of the products contained an ingredient that was not listed on the label. In fact, there was beef DNA found in five products that were not supposed to contain beef, including two vegetarian burger products."
"One vegetarian burger was determined to contain human DNA. The company notes that it was unable to uncover the source of the DNA, but it was likely from hair or skin cells."
Clear Labs also found issues with the meat samples that it tested. A fast food burger and a ground meat sample both contained rat DNA, in addition to one vegetarian burger. "

The majority of ground meat samples were ground beef, but we also tested ground turkey, ground lamb, ground pork, ground chicken, ground veal, ground bison, ground buffalo, and ground venison.
Unexpected ingredients pose safety risks - when ingredients are present in a product and not reported on the label there is an increased potential for adverse allergic reactions. They also have important cultural implications. Certain religions, for example, forbid the consumption of some meat products.
Tests revealed evidence of substitution in 16 products3, or 6.6% of all samples. We found beef in 5 samples, chicken in 4 samples, turkey in 3 samples, pork in 2 samples, rye in 2 samples, and sunchoke in 1 sample that were not supposed to contain these ingredients.
Beef DNA was found in 1 sample of ground lamb, 1 sample of ground bison, and 1 sample of ground chicken patties. Trace amounts of beef DNA was found in 2 vegetarian burger products. Pork DNA was in 1 sample of beef patties and in 1 sample of ground beef.
All 14 samples missing ingredients listed on their labels were vegetarian products. 15.7% of vegetarian products tested had at least 1 missing ingredient.
"Seven of the 258 samples of meat tested contained a pathogen that had the potential to cause a foodborne illness. The report notes that the pathogens found in the cooked burgers were less likely to be alive and pose a smaller health risk. In addition, seven of the 258 samples of meat tested contained a pathogen that had the potential to cause a foodborne illness. The report notes that the pathogens found in the cooked burgers were less likely to be alive and pose a smaller health risk." n addition, seven of the 258 samples of meat tested contained a pathogen that had the potential to cause a foodborne illness. The report notes that the pathogens found in the cooked burgers were less likely to be alive and pose a smaller health risk.