I really had not thought about it but we have not bought ground beef in several years, not since we discovered ground buffalo at Publix. Can't really tell any difference from ithe beef except that it is "dryer" . It doesn't have the greasyness of beef. We use it mostly to make KD's Sunday BBQ Burgers. We have served it to die hard beef eaters without them knowing it and they never noticed any difference.
I suppose it could get contaminated also but, since the article says one problem with hamburger is the meat coming from multiple suppliers, I would think it being buffalo would limit the sources.
We've been grinding our own for several years. It has gotten to the point that we don't like the already ground stuff. The texture and the taste are different and we (dh) can adjust the amount of fat going in to our taste.
It is so easy with our Kitchen-Aid mixer with grinder attachment.
. It doesn't have the greasyness of beef. We use it mostly to make KD's Sunday BBQ Burgers. We have served it to die hard beef eaters without them knowing it and they never noticed any difference.