to those asking, no you don't wash minced meat, you just cook the hell out of it to make sure all the e coli and everything else potentially in there, listeria, etc, is done to well done.
but also maybe the idea of washing is worse in your heads than in reality. Just a quick dousing under running water for seal packed "fresh" or frozen cuts of pork or beef to remove whatever might be on the product. Chicken gets immersed into still water, sometimes covered. I don't see what the outrage is all about, but clearly some sensibilities are forever shook.
To everyone looking down their noses and ivory tipped cigarette holders, suggesting to find a better butcher. In America, butchers are a bit of a premium. Some people are lucky if they have a market, let alone a butcher. I have been as fortunate to have butchers that take orders, but lots of other times I don't know where the meat comes from except that its in plastic, in a pile, with a tag on it. So in an age where you can't really always trust what you eat, I take a little precaution. It works for me, and is well within fda and usda guidelines.
edit: you can go by smell and look but they've found some supermarkets would flood their meat with ammonia or other gasses to preserve the look and prevent smell even if it was past date.
