There are multiple people who feel
That some beef can improve any meal.
  And the plate's not complete
  Without some kind of meat
Be it sausage or sirloin or veal.

But the problem with this attitude,
Is that bad things can happen to food.
  Or to use other terms:
  There's a danger of germs
In dead creatures that formerly mooed.

Cows can carry a deadly bacteria
Which is shipped to a large cafeteria
  This bacteria will
  Make a person quite ill
Who eats meat from a cow that's inferior.

The bacteria's called E Coli,
And if eaten, can cause you to die.
  So it is good advice
  To cook all your meat twice
And make sure the temperature's high.

For heat can help stop the disease,
(But it won't disappear when you freeze.)
  E Coli can be killed
  If the meat is well grilled,
So take care with your beef, if you please.

Long ago, we lacked this information,
About proper ground beef sanitation.
  And we all heard the talks
  About Jack-in-the Box
And how illness spread over the nation.

More recently we received news
Of the trouble down at Hudson Foods.
  A batch of bad beef
  Causing terrible grief
And then people began to accuse.

They said Burger King didn't cook it long,
Or that packers had done something wrong.
  But the theories today
  Are now starting to say
That they've had the disease all along.

The problem begins at the farm,
Where cows tend to do themselves harm
  The water they sip
  Is tainted with cow chip
Which really should cause us alarm

The E Coli is spread by manure,
And on farms there's not always a sewer.
  If cows drink at high rate
  Right where they defecate,
Then this makes their immunities fewer.

So the quandary we deal with now
Is what we should do with the cow.
  We all want to be able
  To have meat on our table
But the question we're asking is how.

The best way is to stay well aware
Of exactly how meat is prepared.
  Hamburgers are fun,
  If the meat is well done.
But take care to beware if it's rare