What! Damn. "CDC estimates Salmonella bacteria cause about 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths in the United States every year." (CDC) OK, so that would not only be the result of eating raw cookie dow. I was afraid Cookie Monster was going to mean something else... *Sigh of relief* But listen to this "In the EU, over 91,000 salmonellosis cases are reported each year." http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/salmonella Total population of the USA: 330 million. Total population of the EU (here, including the UK ): 513 million. Why do you accept this situation in the US?

Sorry - didn't mean to imply that cookie dough was the only source of salmonella poisoning in case that wasn't clear!! Just that, when Salmonella poisoning is a real threat, why take the risk with something which definitely has raw eggs? Obviously poorly handled and poorly cooked food is going to be a source of infection as well.

Ow, poor you Monika - that's nasty. I found these two articles interesting (older but I suspect the reasons remain the same!!): https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-amundsen-egg-washing-and-salmonella-20160613-snap-story.html AND https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/business/25vaccine.html

Rosie, I have had salmonella once, from a not that well-cooked grilled chicken in a taverna on a Greek island. It was positively awful. Very painful, too. It is not something I would take likely at all if I knew it was that common as it is in the US. I looked at the numbers and realized that it is 15 times more common in the US than it is in Europe. No, wait, that is only in total cases, but the US has a significantly smaller population so the cases per million must be like twenty times more. That's no good. Do you have any idea about why that is so? It is a rather serious illness, after all.

Some US beef is exported to the EU but In 1989, the European Union banned the importation of meat that contained artificial beef growth hormones approved for use and administered in the United States, and the importation of chlorinated chicken is, of course, also banned. Blanket use of antibiotics will also be banned. https://www.forbes.com/sites/maisieganzler/2018/11/01/europes-move-on-antibiotic-use-in-livestock-leaves-u-s-in-the-dust-again/#14bb7fa41a53

I always choose Irish Beef!! The only other option I tend to see is Scottish - never seen beef from the US.

Indeed you do produce fantastic beef, as well as healthier since there is a reason it is called the Green Island. Livestock that eats fresh grasses have much healthier fats than livestock reared on cattle feed, and the meat is tastier too, be it Irish, Uruguayan, Brazilian, or Argentinian, or from anywhere else where the grass is always green.

The EU imports product that meet its regulations, biggest part are soybeans followed by nuts - stuff that does not grow here or is simply to expensive to grow. There are practically no animal products or processed foods imported because of additives viewed as poison here.

No Erin. We do not get most of our beef from the US - it mostly comes from UK, France, Germany and Ireland. Japan is the top destination for US beef exports so far in 2020 followed by South Korea & Mexico. The US also imports more beef than it exports. The United States has imported 773.8 million pounds of beef so far in 2020, up 4.8% from 2019 yet exported 502.1 million pounds.

@Erin: "The EU imported 271,472 tonnes of beef and beef products from non-EU suppliers, worth $3.2 billion in 2016", that includes hormone-free beef from the US. So, no, most of our beef does not come from the US, it is produced in the EU. In 1919, the EU beef production was around 3,000,000 tonnes (of which 1,140,326 tonnes were exported to non-EU countries, including the United Kingdom). Beef consumption is showing a downwards trend because of changes in consumer behaviour, with more and more people opting for less red meats as more environmentally friendly. Oh and you're welcome.

Here is another piece of information that IF I was an American, I would grab it by the horns and try to make some changes that would be GOOD FOR ACTUAL PEOPLE: "European regulations against additives in food products are generally stricter than in the U.S. This difference is due mostly to the fact that Europe has chosen a precautionary approach in regulating, while the U.S. governing bodies tend to be more reactive. In other words, in the United States, food additives are innocent until proven guilty, while in Europe, only those additives proven not to be harmful are approved for use." http://www.germinalorganic.com/2018/02/eu-versus-us-a-closer-look-at-food-standards/

Again: @ Erin, please check where you get your so-called facts from." EU-US trade in goods: €153 billion surplus in 2019" EU EXPORTS to US: 384 billion Euros (of which 41% Machinery and Vehicles, 27% chemicals, and 20% other manufactured goods). EU IMPORTS from US: 232 billion Euros (of which 40% Machinery and Vehicles, 23% chemicals, and 17% other manufactured goods, leaving a higher percentage for low-value agricultural products such as livestock feed). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/DDN-20200311-1 "The United States is the largest exporter of food products worldwide, sending massive amounts of plant and animal products around the world." https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-american-food-giant-the-largest-exporter-of-food-in-the-world.html This is not something that can make any smart American happy though since this comes at a terrible cost to the environment and sadly also with a heavy loss of productive soil. Some gain today...

@CP: Can I recommend you read this article? "What Foods Are Banned in Europe but Not Banned in the U.S.?" https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/28/well/eat/food-additives-banned-europe-united-states.html

@Bill: From the same source: "U.S. imports for consumption of agricultural products from EU countries totaled $23.9 billion in 2018. The EU countries together rank 2nd (to Mexico) as a supplier of Ag imports to the United States."

@Bill, "U.S. domestic exports of agricultural products to the EU totaled $13.5 billion in 2018. Please note that the following includes US exports to the UK. "The EU countries together would rank 3rd as an Ag Export Market for the United States. Leading categories include: soybeans ($3.1 billion), tree nuts ($2.8 billion), wine and beer ($563 million), and processed food ($555 million)." This is from the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President: https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/europe/european-union

Beware this comment section!

@Tiara and @Lillukka: You are both partly right, and you are both partly wrong, One cannot answer invented or maybe-facts with more maybe-stuff. That is why I make sure to post real, hard, undisputable sources! P.S. You are most welcome, Erin! D.S.

Please do not downvote Bill for posting a simple, honest question! That is just bad manners

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Actually Tiari, almost of the corn, kidney beans, rice, peanut butter, orange and cranberry juice, whiskey, cigars and tobacco, cotton clothing, steel, iron, aluminum that you consume there come from the US. in 2019, the US exported more than 18,500 metric tons that is 18,500,000 kilos of meat to the EU. So, most of your beef comes from us too. Oh and you're welcome.

The information is out there on the internet.

"EVERY single one of our foods" is your words, not hers.

Erin - do some reading to check your facts. Standards between the EU and US differ with more things allowed in the US than in EU. Eg the type of pesticides and veterinary drugs allowed, maximum residue levels, the use of growth hormones in cattle in the US, the use of lactic acid in the treatment of beef in the US and approval of genetically modified organisms. Many additives to US food are not allowed under EU law. Stricter welfare standards for animals in at least the UK than in US.

Erin, we definitely don't get most of our meat from the USA. There are only 17 slaughterhouses in the USA that are approved to export beef to the EU. Any meat containing growth hormones are banned in the EU

Pah! The USA does not have the safest food in the world wtf

Remember pink slime? Yeah, really safe and regulated.

Also, I think you're just one fit a way from calling our managers, Karen

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Frankenfrog, what is unsafe about the pink slime? Should we just throw that food away? And if you think it isn't regulated to make sure it is safe to eat you are sorely mistaken.