Is it this hard to not poison us?

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This news is EXACTLY why we eat buffalo.
Someday maybe enough people will get sick and enough cows will die for nothing, that these companies will realize the way they're raising and slaughtering cows is WRONG.

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uh huh.
E. coli is part of our environment.
It gets into ground meat during slaughter and processing. It also becomes more of a problem when meat from different sources is collected and ground at a central processing facility (tracking sources, knowing the sources, etc), BUFFALO is not immune to potential problems. Seriously, this is no different than salmonella and chicken.... things need to be cooked properly.
Here we go, not too much to find multiple references to buffalo and e. coli on a google search...
Posted on July 25, 2007 by E. coli Attorney

USDA announced today that Custom Pack, a Nebraska firm, is recalling ground beef distributed in Nebraska and BUFFALO distributed in Colorado. The recall was instituted after the CDC and Nebraska health officials identified at least one E. coli illness associated with the products.

The ground beef products were produced between June 1 and June 13, 2007, and were distributed to restaurants and institutions in Nebraska. The ground BUFFALO patties were produced on June 7, 2007, and distributed to restaurants and institutions in Colorado. None of these products were sold through grocery stores.

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This one scares me; it seems the vast majority of these things involve those nasty pre-made frozen patties, but this involves the exact same meat (3 lb value packs of 80/20) that I use all year long to make my own burgers, tacos, and meatballs. I buy the package, mix it all together, form burgers, and freeze them, and I might well have some of this in my freezer now; how on earth would I know?

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This is why we only buy local meat from small local farms and small local processors, and also why we're eating less meat all the time.

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Ken,
Burgers need to be cooked into the well done state if you are concerned. Burgers, especially frozen ones, tossed on the grill are the usual suspect for human illness... notably because it is sometimes difficult to know if the internal temp has reached 160F. Other methods, like browning meat for tacos, browning meatballs and adding them to a sauce, chili, etc imply proper cooking temperatures with no worries. It is all about the cooking method and resultant temperature. And, since the bacteria is generally on the outside of the meat--steaks etc are not subject to the same problems unless you are making tartare. Heat quickly kills surface bacteria. Ground beef is a problem because meat with potential bacteria on the OUTSIDE is ground up, distributing the contamination to the interior of the product. Cook properly.

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