7th Grade
Example Research Paper.
[Title Page]:
Greasy, Grimy Ground Beef
By: Ben Adkison
Due: Friday, October 29, 1999
For: Science & English
Mr. Breitenfeldt & Mrs. Monforton
Greasy, Grimy Ground Beef
[Remember to double space your paper]
Hello. I'm a cow. Somebody just slaughtered
me, and now I am being butchered. Ouch! The butcher just cut
my large intestine. Now all the meat in me is infected with E.
coli. At the store someone, named Fred, bought some of my E.
coli infected meat. Mmmmmm, the smell of the freshly lit barbecue
that the meat is about to be cooked on, but not cooked enough. The
next thing Fred knows he's being rushed to the hospital. Finally
the E. coli that used to be inside me is dead thanks to modern medicine.
[Attention Getter]
In this paper I will tell you about: 1) what some
bacteria can do to your body, 2) how radiation can kill bacteria in your
food, and 3) how bacteria get into your food and how to prevent it. [Introduction]
[Body of Paper]:
When bacteria, such as E. coli, get into
your body you get very sick. [Topic
Sentence #1] Once inside your body E. coli releases
a toxin. According to the December 8, 1997 issue of Science World
magazine, the toxin can give you bloody diarrhea. The bloody diarrhea
is caused by bleeding of the large intestine. The toxin can also
cause headaches, fever, and cramps. Most people get over being infected
in about ten days. Some people have kidney failure and die.
E. coli can live in hamburgers, lettuce,
and apple cider. According to the "Pathogen Fact Sheet" in Science
World magazine, in 1997 sixteen people in Colorado got sick from eating
infected hamburgers. Twenty five million pounds of hamburger were
recalled because of the incident. The meat was traced back to a meat-processing
plant in Columbus, Nebraska. In 1993 two people died and six hundred
became ill after they ate hamburgers infected with E. coli, from
a fast-food chain. According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control
in Atlanta, Georgia, two hundred fifty people out of the twenty thousand
people infected with E. coli in 1997 died.
There are other bacteria that can live in your food
besides E. coli. According to Science World magazine,
another bacterium is Campylobacter bacteria, which may infect up
to 90% of all chickens. A test in Minnesota supermarkets found that
79% of all chickens were infected with Campylobacter bacteria.
The test also found that 59% of all turkeys were infected too.
A parasite called Cyclospora made two thousand three hundred people
sick, in two years, because of infected raspberries from Guatemala.
Another bacterium is Salmonella, it infects eggs, poultry, and fruits
and vegetables.
Radiation can kill bacteria in your food.
[Topic Sentence #2] The radiation
process used to kill bacteria in your food is called irradiation.
According to the Science World magazine article "Food's Bad Bugs,"
high energy atomic particles are also used to rid food of bacteria.
The radiation destroys the microbes' ability to reproduce. The U.S.
Food and Drug Association (FDA) has approved irradiation for foods like
poultry, grains, potatoes, and fresh fruit. Beef will soon be added
to the list of irradiatable foods. Irradiated steaks are favored
by astronauts aboard space shuttle flights.
Irradiation isn't as good as it seems.
According to Science World magazine, irradiation takes
away most of the nutrition in food. It destroys vitamins A, B, C,
E, and K. Not all nutrition is lost during irradiation. The
food still has some valuable nutrients. One of the good things about
irradiation is that it makes food stay fresher, up to four times longer
than usual.
Some people don't like the idea of eating irradiated
food. Many people think irradiation turns their food into cancer
risks. Michael Colby, director of the national food safety and environmental
organization, Food and Water Inc., says the doses of radiation are too
small to make food radioactive. Science World also reports
that FDA studies show that there are no health risks in irradiated food.
Even though the FDA says irradiated foods are just fine to eat it will
still be a while before the food is out on the market. At least the
astronauts are happy to eat irradiated food.
Bacteria usually get into your food when it was
still living and there are a few simple things you can do to prevent infection.
[Topic Sentence #3] Cows and plants
usually get infected before they reach the supermarkets. Science
World magazine states that, cows' intestines can contain E. coli.
The intestines containing E. coli are sometime accidentally
cut during slaughtering. According to James Burton, a researcher
at Toronto Hospital, E. coli doesn't make cows sick enough for anyone
to notice. Science World also states that, plants can get
infected when infected animal manure is used as fertilizer. Plants
can also get infected when they come in contact with contaminated water.
There are many people on your side to help prevent
outbreaks of dangerous bacteria. According
to the Science World magazine article "Food's Bad Bugs," U.S. government
inspectors are helping to prevent food poisoning. They check animal
carcasses for spoilage. Since E. coli and Salmonella
don't give off odors, they can be easily missed. The inspectors send
food samples off to laboratories for analysis. The results give proof
to whether the food is infected.
There are ways you and other consumers can prevent
being infected with bad bacteria. Inspectors can't make sure every
piece of food is safe to eat so you have to do your part too. Fruits
and vegetables should be washed very well. Meat should be cooked
thoroughly. You can also help maintain clean water supplies so you
and the plants you eat don't consume infected water. Meat Processing
plants should be cleaned too so our meat doesn't get infected. [End
of Body]
In this paper I told you about: 1) what some bacteria
can do to your body, 2) how radiation can kill bacteria in food, and 3)
how bacteria gets into your food and how to prevent it. In my opinion,
you should cook your meat thoroughly. You should also rinse vegetables
well before eating them. Next time I sit down to that well-deserved
steak dinner I might think twice about how well my Mom cooked the steak.
[Conclusion].
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