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The devastating story of Stephanie Smith, covered in this New York Times article, offers a frightening perspective on the risks of consuming beef, and will undoubtedly  inspire those of us who still eat red meat to think twice. Smith used to be a dance teacher, but she is now paralyzed from the waist down after suffering from convulsions and being in a coma for nine weeks. The culprit? A hamburger she ate at a family barbeque two years ago, which was produced by food giant Cargill and carried a strain of E. coli. Cargill, like most meat producers, makes patties from various scraps of fatty meat; one patty will often be composed of different cow parts, and originate from different slaughterhouses. Meat producers are not required to test for the dangerous pathogen during the making of the patty, and often rely on suppliers to do so after the ingredients have been mashed together. At that point, even a few cells of E. coli will remain virulent, even if the consumer cooks carefully and washes his or her hands. Tens of thousands of Americans are afflicted by this pathogen every year, and the majority of cases come from the consumption of beef. Food safety experts are concerned about the process of testing, inspection and patty production, and stress that many changes remain to be made. Another compelling reason to think about the things we eat!