IOWA CITY, Iowa—Retail pork products in the United States have a higher prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (MRSA) than previously identified, according to a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE.
Researchers at the University of Iowa College of Public Health and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy collected 395 raw pork samples from 36 stores in Iowa, Minnesota and New Jersey. Of the samples, 26—or about 7%—tested positive for MRSA. The study also found no significant difference in MRSA contamination between conventional pork products and those raised without antibiotics or antibiotic growth promotants.
"This study shows that the meat we buy in our grocery stores has a higher prevalence of staph than we originally thought," said lead study author Tara Smith, Ph.D., interim director of the UI Center for Emerging and Infectious Diseases and assistant professor of epidemiology. "With this knowledge, we can start to recommend safer ways to handle raw meat products to make it safer for the consumer."
The researchers said they were surprised to see no significant difference in antibiotic-free and conventionally produced pork, adding though it's possible that this finding has more to do with the handling of the raw meat at the plant than the way the animals were raised, it's certainly worth exploring further.
