Today in Prepared Meats

I have some good news for prepared meats lovers! And I have some bad news. Yes, it’s a mixed bag on Today in Prepared Meats.

The bad news first: North Carolina-based Johnston County Hams will recall 89,000 pounds of ready-to-eat ham products due to a listeria outbreak, which has left one person dead at the time of press. Three other consumers’ illnesses in North Carolina and Virginia have been linked to the outbreak. Officials are at work to determine whether there are more customers who have been affected. Do not buy these products; it is not safe.

If you’ve got a hankering for prepared meats, especially of the cased variety, might I suggest a Costco hot dog, which, at $1.50 for one of these fabled weenies and a soda, will hardly break the bank. CNN calls it Costco’s “secret weapon,” or one of the reasons why people dish out $60 to $120 a year for their membership. (At the food court, I’m more a pizza gal, but at that price, I might just go for the doggo.) The Costco dog is good, and the company knows it; in 2009, the co-founder Jim Sinegal said “I know it sounds crazy making a big deal about a hot dog, but we spend a lot of time on it. We’re known for that hot dog. That’s something you don’t mess with.” Jimmy, I respect that!

The simple pleasures count for a lot in the tumultuous world of prepared meats, and so thank God for hot dogs. Meanwhile, there’s meat grown in labs, which has many concerned for consumers’ safety. The Wall Street Journal reports that startups betting on the rise of “clean meat” or “slaughterhouse-free meat” are nowhere near bringing a product to market, but still, the growing field of research into meat grown from animal cells raises the question of “Can I eat it?” The law is still trying to figure that out. Read more here.

That’s it for today’s Today in Prepared Meats! Stay tuned for next time, when I contemplate becoming a vegetarian because it’s too much to deal with this shit.