Whole Foods at least tells you upfront about the source of the food. But a few years ago there were instances in several Philly area stores which made the news. Evidently there was pork getting mixed in with the beef ( they are supposed to be ground separately and cleaned in between) so I’m just not a fan of pre-ground beef in any way shape or form.
I live just fine without hamburgers and can continue to do so. If I want ground meat for meatloaf or chili, it’s not that hard to just buy a single piece of chuck, chill it really well and grind it myself in the food processor. Alton Brown did a show on it one time.
But, I can go for incredibly long periods of time without eating any beef at all. Mostly fish and chicken.
But every once in a while there are some really great looking short ribs on sale and I succumb :)
But, I have no difficulty at all in totally avoiding fast food burgers and any type of mass market ground beef. That’s the two sources where all the problems have occured regarding E-Coli and adulteration with stuff like ammonia ( ick and ewww)