Another day, another health-related failure in Georgia.
New research from Trace One shows that Georgia shoppers face the highest risk of buying contaminated meat at grocery stores compared to other states. Nearly 30% of chicken samples in Georgia tested positive for dangerous bacteria that can make you sick.
🔬 What’s Happening: A new study analyzed meat contamination data from 22 states using federal monitoring systems. Georgia scored worst with a contamination risk index of 69.05.
• Chicken showed the highest contamination rate at nearly 30%
• Ground turkey contamination hit 13% of samples tested
⚠️ Between the Lines: The bacteria found in Georgia meat samples include Salmonella and Campylobacter. These pathogens cause the majority of foodborne illnesses that send people to hospitals.
• About 48 million Americans get sick from contaminated food each year
• Nearly 23% of bacteria found in retail meat resists multiple antibiotics
🥩 Why It Matters: With federal food safety agencies facing budget cuts, contaminated meat poses a growing threat to families across the state. These bacteria can cause serious illness and hospitalization.
🍗 The Bigger Picture: Poultry products carry the highest contamination risk nationwide. Bacteria can spread to meat during slaughter, handling, or packaging when sanitation procedures fail.
The problem gets worse when livestock receive routine antibiotics, creating drug-resistant bacteria that are harder to treat. Georgia’s high contamination rates put the state’s residents at greater risk just as federal oversight faces potential cuts.
🧰 Take Action: Change only comes when Georgians demand better from their elected officials and the companies that supply their food. Georgia is a “business-friendly” state, which often means profits come before people and residents have to tell their elected officials about problems they see. You can contact your representatives to push for stronger food safety oversight. You can also choose to buy from local farms and processors that follow stricter safety standards. Your voice and your wallet both have power to create the change Georgia families need.
Before You Dismiss This Article…
We live in a time when information feels overwhelming, but here’s what hasn’t changed: facts exist whether they comfort us or not.
When A&W launched their third-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder in the 1980s, it failed spectacularly. Not because it tasted worse, but because customers thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If basic math can trip us up, imagine how easily we can misread complex news.
The press isn’t against you when it reports something you don’t want to hear. Reporters are thermometers, not the fever itself. They’re telling you what verified sources are saying, not taking sides. Good reporting should challenge you — that’s literally the job.
Next time a story makes you angry, pause. Ask yourself: What evidence backs this up? Am I reacting with my brain or my gut? What would actually change my mind? And most importantly, am I assuming bias just because the story doesn’t match what I hoped to hear.
Smart readers choose verified information over their own comfort zone.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
