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Eating raw hamburger is dumber than a box of rocks.

posted 17 years ago by jasonbourneagain
10 replies | jump to latest

Bo (Don Murray) eats three RAW hamburgers at the Bus Stop diner.

Most Americans didn't know about e coli back then, but it was around. E coli could cause diarrhea, stomach aches, bloody stool, dehydration, fatigue and possibly death in children and the elderly. Salmonella is another possibility and could cause nausea, abdominal cramping, bloody stool and possibly death in children and the elderly.

Raw meat and even raw eggs can be eaten, but it has to be done with care and knowledge of the source.

Bo has a big mouth and is a dumb hick, but he should have known better.

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[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Kinematico 16 years ago

Obviously Don Murray character is meant to perform the stereotypical "hillbilly", anyway the script is so bad and the acting by Murray so cartoonish that everything he does, instead of causing you some laughs, causes you boredom and/or annoyance.

Yet Murray got an academy nod for best supporting actor, can you believe it???

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] liscarkat-2 16 years ago

Didn't you notice...Bo was a FLIPPING IDIOT!

[–] dlbroome01 16 years ago

Bo's meal of raw hamburger is basically a backwoods version of a high-society dish called 'Steak Tartare' which is ground, raw meat molded into a patty, then spiced and served chilled. Europeans came up with it.. but because of health concerns it is seldom found on restaurant menus anymore.

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[–] romar289 11 years ago

I remember many times doing raw, ground hamburger with onions on saltine crackers WAY BACK in the day with my dad. Freakin' delicious. We were not aware of the risks then and we luckily never became ill but I wouldn't recommend it now. Cool memories, though. Add it to the ever expanding list of the many things we shouldn't do anymore :)

[–] callagal 10 years ago

I remember eating it too, back in the 60s. It was usually reserved for holidays or Christmas time, raw hamburger and onions on small thin rye bread. Delicious!

[–] necoleman 10 years ago

I am formerly known as HillieBoliday.....Member since May 2006.

My dad worked for a company where they slaughtered beef and supplied it to the local/state markets where we lived. I remember him bringing home the best steaks and ground hamburger/surloin you could ever wish for! He would buy in bulk at an employee discount...and fill up our freezer in the garage. When my mother would separate and package the ground beef for storing in the freezer....we would get little samples of the raw ground beef, and eat it with a little salt sprinkled on. We didn't eat a lot and we didn't do it often and it was a tasty treat. WE WERE SO BLESSED! Now...with living on a fixed income....I can't even begin to afford steak...and can't remember the last time I had one. And.....given the way they process our foods now....I wouldn't even think about eating raw anything...other than vegetables...LOL!

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[–] nycruise-1 11 years ago

Well - no - it wasn't as prevalent back then as it is today.

The switch to corn as standard cattle feed is thought to have encouraged the proliferation of E. coli in hamburger meat: cows are grass-grazers, but the corn - a grain - apparently creates a more favorable environment for the bacteria in the cow's stomach(s). When they cut the cow open at the slaughterhouse, they inevitably expose the stomach contents to the meatier portions of the carcass - and that's when the E. coli gets ground up with the meat into hamburger.

So you could probably eat raw hamburger meat back in the 50s - even before that - and not have run a big risk at ingesting E. coli.

Also, I'm sure many out-of-the-way diners used locally-raised ground beef for their burgers - which probably also reduced the risk of E. coli contamination. In the large commercial slaughterhouse, with so many cattle being brought it, the likelihood of one introducing E. coli to the place runs high. Once it contaminates the butchering process, it spreads to the other non-contaminated carcasses. Out in the boonies, the number of cattle being butchered was far less.

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[–] daphen_axa 10 years ago

I eat "raw burgers" (steaks tartares) all the time and it is freaking delicious. Obviously the meat has to be extra fresh, otherwise that is when it becomes dangerous. But other than that no problem. And it is pretty common as well.