That's Not Ground Turkey: 50% Contaminated with Fecal Bacteria, According To Report

Ground turkey is contaminated with fecal bacteria and other kinds of contaminants, according to a new study from Consumer Reports that found more than half the samples contained fecal bacteria.

The study also showed that more than 90 percent of the ground turkey samples were contaminated with at least one out of five of the bacterias that the researchers were testing for, including salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, enterococcus and campylobacter, the only type that was not detected.

Researchers analyzed 257 retail samples collected from 21 states and 27 different brands that were all bought from retailers and found that 69 percent contained enterococcus, while 60 percent were contaminated with E. coli; both are considered fecal contamination.

And some of the samples even showed contaminants associated with food poisoning, as well as infections of the urinary tract, bloodstream and other parts of the body.

Industry groups, like The National Turkey Federation, were quick to dismiss the study, quickly denouncing it as "alarmist."

"The magazine reported high levels of certain pathogens on the samples tested, but it is important to note that the two most prevalent, enterococcus and generic E. coli, are not considered sources of foodborne illness," the industry group wrote.

The American Meat Institute also responded to the study, saying that "the magazine [Consumer Reports] chooses to focus today's story on four bacteria their labs did find, the more important story is about the pathogenic bacteria of public health concern that they didn't find or found at remarkably low levels."

The study from Consumer Reports also found that the contaminants did not respond to antibiotics designed to fight them.

Researchers also discovered that despite "no antibiotics" and "organic" labels, all of the turkey samples included in the study were found just as likely to carry bacteria, while the samples retailed as not containing antibiotics were less likely to be resistant to antibiotics.