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Author Topic: Listeriosis outbreak: Why is Health Canada covering for Maple Leaf?
martin dufresne
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posted 21 August 2008 01:13 PM      Profile for martin dufresne   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
CBC - Listeriosis outbreak leaves 1 dead and 16 sick Other deaths are being investigated and an epidemic suspected, even in other provinces. The body count is expected to climb because of a 2-week delay in ordering a general recall and a one-month incubation period (when I first posted this, they were claiming one week, oh the lies!). But Health Canada refuses to confirm a link with the 23 Maple Leaf meat products involved - corporate interest rules - and authorities seem to be trying to keep a tight lid on the available information, making reassuring noises depite the data.
Shades of Walkerton...

[ 21 August 2008: Message edited by: martin dufresne ]

[ 27 August 2008: Message edited by: martin dufresne ]


From: "Words Matter" (Mackinnon) | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
Frustrated Mess
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posted 21 August 2008 01:32 PM      Profile for Frustrated Mess   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Because that's their role.
From: doom without the gloom | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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posted 21 August 2008 01:45 PM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Thread drift: I know someone whose father worked for Canada Packers in Ottawa, and got employee discounts. Took hot weiners to school every day in a Thermos for lunch. Ugh. That couldn't have been healthy.
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
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posted 25 August 2008 01:28 AM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The list of recalled products is extensive.

Maple Leaf puts out products under many brand names.

And this thread belongs in Labour and Consumption.


From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 25 August 2008 02:49 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I just heard on the news that they're now recalling all Maple Leaf meat products - but I was half-awake. Is this true?

The meat products I have (and have been afraid to cook for others or consume myself since hearing) are packaged chicken, packaged bacon (ate 1/3 before I heard), and some deli salami and black forest ham (don't know where it's from since the deli folks just slice it up).

But I don't see bacon on that list, nor do I see chicken.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
pogge
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posted 25 August 2008 03:45 AM      Profile for pogge   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Maple Leaf recalls all products from Toronto plant
quote:
The company is warning consumers not to serve or eat meat products labelled with establishment number 97B. Customers can find the number near the "best before" label or packaged on dates.

From: Why is this a required field? | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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posted 26 August 2008 05:22 PM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
6 dead so far, another 15 deaths being investigated to see if they are connected to the outbreak. Expected to get more cases in the next five to seven weeks.

Thread drift: CBC did a story tonight on the 'Mumps" outbreak in BC - a fundamentalist christian church forbids mumps innoculations for its young, instead believing 'spirituality' is the answer - and their young are coming down with mumps.

ETA: Toronto's Tony Merchant has launched a class action suit, I believe I heard that so far 1,000 people have signed on to sue the company (Maple Leaf Foods).

[ 26 August 2008: Message edited by: Boom Boom ]


From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Sineed
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posted 26 August 2008 06:47 PM      Profile for Sineed     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
You'd be fine eating the bacon, Michelle; cooking kills the bacteria. I'd toss everything else in the green bin (if you can't return for refund).

Chances are, you'd be fine in any event. Healthy people don't tend to get sick from Listeria.

Listeriosis facts

[ 26 August 2008: Message edited by: Sineed ]


From: # 668 - neighbour of the beast | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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posted 27 August 2008 04:16 AM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
This morning it's now 15 deaths directly linked to the outbrak, and four class action suits against the company. This is just the tip of the iceberg says CBC.
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Ghislaine
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posted 27 August 2008 04:22 AM      Profile for Ghislaine     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
This whole scare just made me that much sure that cutting out processed factory meat was the right choice.

However, the facts linked to above about listeria are important to keep in mind. Those who die are usually elderly, babies or already ill. It is a bacteria that is very common.

If you are eating locally-raised meat that is not grown in a factory setting there is a much smaller chance of listeria contamination.

There have been a lot of people quoted on TV saying they are giving up meat due to this scare, but that is really a false dichotomy. The issue is with industrial versus sustainable farming and production methods. In 1981 there was a listeria outbreak here in the maritimes that killed dozens of people - the listeria was found in coleslaw.


From: L'Î-P-É | Registered: Feb 2008  |  IP: Logged
Bookish Agrarian
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posted 27 August 2008 04:29 AM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I have a prediction.

There will be a round of 'feel good' regulations after this. Most of them will fall heavily on smaller, local processors, when they are not the problem. Not one of the regulations will actually improve food safety, but there will be lots of positive media spin.

No one in government will go after the real culprit - the super concentration of our food system. These regualtions will drive out smaller processors and we will end up with an even more industrialized and concentrated food system.

We've seen this before with cheese and creameries.


From: Home of this year's IPM | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
Ghislaine
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posted 27 August 2008 04:43 AM      Profile for Ghislaine     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Bookish Agrarian:
I have a prediction.

There will be a round of 'feel good' regulations after this. Most of them will fall heavily on smaller, local processors, when they are not the problem. Not one of the regulations will actually improve food safety, but there will be lots of positive media spin.

No one in government will go after the real culprit - the super concentration of our food system. These regualtions will drive out smaller processors and we will end up with an even more industrialized and concentrated food system.

We've seen this before with cheese and creameries.



I hope your prediction is not true, but I fear you are right...


From: L'Î-P-É | Registered: Feb 2008  |  IP: Logged
TemporalHominid
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posted 27 August 2008 05:01 AM      Profile for TemporalHominid   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
related:

In July, Luc Pomerleau, a biologist "with a 20-year 'umblemished record' in government," according to a CanWest news article, who "was fired [in early July] for 'gross misconduct' and breaching security because he sent the documents to his union."

quote:
Confidential documents insecurely posted on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's computer network laid out sensitive plans to turn over food inspections and labelling to industry and also led to the firing of the scientist who stumbled upon them

the demand

Please consider writing a letter to Gerry Ritz [email protected] minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (the department responsible for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency), demanding that Luc Pomerleau be given his job back. Letters should be copied to the Prime Minister

[email protected]

[email protected]


From: Under a bridge, in Foot Muck | Registered: Jul 2004  |  IP: Logged
pogge
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posted 27 August 2008 06:12 AM      Profile for pogge   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
...the federal agency responsible for food safety this year began to let the industry conduct its own food testing, The Globe and Mail has learned.

A leaked cabinet document that outlined plans for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to give the food industry a greater role in the inspection process raised the ire of opposition politicians last week.

However, some of the plans have been in place since March 31, according to a CFIA manager and an official from the union that represents the federal inspectors.

At the Maple Leaf plant behind the listeria outbreak, a single federal inspector was relegated to auditing company paperwork and had to deal with several other plants, the manager and the union official said, contradicting the impression that officials had left last week that full-time watchdogs were on-site.


[ 27 August 2008: Message edited by: pogge ]


From: Why is this a required field? | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged
remind
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posted 27 August 2008 06:32 AM      Profile for remind     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Thanks for the article pogge, I figured that they had already discontinued, or started the cutback on, food safety inspectors, and that something like this would happene in short order if they had, or when they did. Idiots that they are.
From: "watching the tide roll away" | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
Bookish Agrarian
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posted 27 August 2008 07:02 AM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
From the National Farmers Union

quote:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUGUST 27, 2008

FOOD SAFETY: LOCAL FOOD ALTERNATIVE TO CENTRALIZED SYSTEM
The tragic deaths of a number of Canadians due to a bacterial infection caused by eating tainted meat from a Toronto-area processing plant is a sobering reminder of how centralized and consolidated our current food system is, says Nigel Smith, Youth President of the National Farmers Union (NFU).

Smith said while accidental food-borne contamination is extremely rare thanks to a reliable publicly-accountable food inspection system, the recent outbreak of listeria has nonetheless resulted in several tragic deaths. A widespread recall of over 200 meat products is currently in place, affecting Canadians across the country.

“It’s important to ensure food safety standards are enforced to protect public health, at both large and small processing plants,” he stated. “Contamination can conceivably occur at any plant, regardless of its size. The big difference, however, is that when contamination takes place at a very large plant, the consequences are staggering – both in the number of people potentially affected – and in the overall costs.”

Don Mills, NFU Ontario Board member, said the food system in Canada has steadily become more centralized over the years as food processors, distributors and retailers have become larger and more integrated. Food products distributed throughout a national system tend to be sourced from large, federally-inspected processing plants.

That centralization has resulted in reduced opportunities for Canadians to purchase locally-grown and locally-processed food products, Mills pointed out. “Normally we wouldn’t give that a second thought, but when unfortunate instances like this occur, it underlines how vulnerable the system really is.”

In the meat processing sector, for example, ownership is very concentrated, with Cargill, XL Meats, and Maple Leaf controlling most of the capacity. “The food chain is very narrow at the processing level,” stated Mills. “It’s only when people understand how the food system actually operates, that real changes can be made.”

Smith concluded that it is important for Canadians to support local food initiatives as a way of promoting a healthy food system.



From: Home of this year's IPM | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
al-Qa'bong
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posted 27 August 2008 09:01 AM      Profile for al-Qa'bong   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Someone living in a seniors' facility in Saskatchewan has died from listerosis. I noticed that quite a few of the deaths down east have also occurred among residents of seniors' homes.

Is there any connexion between tainted meat and institutionalised housing?


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Michelle
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posted 27 August 2008 09:26 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Seriously? There's a guy on the Board of the NFU named Don Mills? He must have fun introducing himself when he visits Toronto!
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Bookish Agrarian
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posted 27 August 2008 09:28 AM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Actually he works in Toronto 3 days a week for a local food agency. It could be worse I suppose he could be called Leslie Spit or something.
From: Home of this year's IPM | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
Bookish Agrarian
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posted 28 August 2008 05:42 AM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
And so it begins

Listeria outbreak spurs food safety overhaul

You just know they were just waiting for an excuse to allow irradiation of food rather than dealing with the real issues.


From: Home of this year's IPM | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
remind
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posted 28 August 2008 07:00 AM      Profile for remind     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Hmph, IMV, all of this was contrived with an end purpose, or purposes.

More women died, and will die, because of the failures in health care testing for breast Canacer in NFLD, than have been affected by this "outbreak".


From: "watching the tide roll away" | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
Brian White
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posted 28 August 2008 09:57 AM      Profile for Brian White   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I agree. They (conservatives) have being trying to get out of food inspection for some time. I forget who got fired recently for finding and leaking a document about this.
Irradation means that rotten food will soon be safe to eat.
Theres a thought.
We will be marketed green sheen meat. And people will think they like it.
quote:
Originally posted by Bookish Agrarian:
And so it begins

Listeria outbreak spurs food safety overhaul

You just know they were just waiting for an excuse to allow irradiation of food rather than dealing with the real issues.



From: Victoria Bc | Registered: Jan 2005  |  IP: Logged
Trevormkidd
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posted 28 August 2008 11:58 AM      Profile for Trevormkidd     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Brian White:
Irradation means that rotten food will soon be safe to eat.

Holy crap! A process that could make something that is unsafe safe. Where can I protest this?

If I has the option of buying irradiated food, I would be buying such for many vegetables which I plan to eat raw.


From: SL | Registered: Jun 2006  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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posted 28 August 2008 01:33 PM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Brian White:
We will be marketed green sheen meat.

Aka "Soylent Green".


From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Bookish Agrarian
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posted 28 August 2008 06:54 PM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Trevormkidd:

Holy crap! A process that could make something that is unsafe safe. Where can I protest this?

If I has the option of buying irradiated food, I would be buying such for many vegetables which I plan to eat raw.


You will be getting irradiated veggies too. In fact that is where the process started.
Can you say California spinach


From: Home of this year's IPM | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
cornerstone
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posted 28 August 2008 10:14 PM      Profile for cornerstone     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Bookish Agrarian:
I have a prediction.

There will be a round of 'feel good' regulations after this. Most of them will fall heavily on smaller, local processors, when they are not the problem. Not one of the regulations will actually improve food safety, but there will be lots of positive media spin.

No one in government will go after the real culprit - the super concentration of our food system. These regualtions will drive out smaller processors and we will end up with an even more industrialized and concentrated food system.

We've seen this before with cheese and creameries.


look at Quebec and out in BC boutique and raw milk cheeses are booming. One can't compete head on with big agro business but as I saw on the CBC tonight there is the beginnings of a local food movement with help from the government in Ontario. It looks like the program is part of the governments "Green Belt" push. It's called Local Food Plus

LFP

As an aside I picked up a bottle of Niagara Wine that had a tag promoting the concept of the "100 mile" diet.

I'm rather optimistic that the recognition and adoption of a local produce and products food chain is going to happen. There is an ever increasing education of the consumer and we should look to Europe on how to do food.


From: in time and space | Registered: Aug 2008  |  IP: Logged
Brian White
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posted 29 August 2008 10:14 AM      Profile for Brian White   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
thats good but bookish is talking about government using big industrial food disasters to cripple small food production. For example Birdflu in huge factory units with almost cloned chickens produced new regulations for the hardy mongrel chickens that run about outdoors. And the owners of thes huge chicken factorys were allowed to outsource their eggs (in the states) so they wouldn't lose market share in bc! UNBELIEVABLE but true. So much for the holy free market under the bc libs!
In britain, with foot and mouth disease some old sheep and cattle breeds were wiped out forever in the quarintine process.
On vancouver island, there are just a few places now where animals can be killed. (Due to regulations basically). This heavily penalises and almost eliminates the island lamb, and beef industrys. Vancouver island is bigger than the netherlands to put it into perspective and lots of the island could support grass fed beef and lamb production.
I trained as a lab technician, raw milk is dangerous.
Going back to the old ways because they are old is not recommended. There is an outbreak of mumps in some religous community in bc right now because they do not believe in vaccination.
If an adult male gets mumps, he goes through great pain and he likely ends up sterile.
And unfortunately you can get mumps more than once.
quote:
Originally posted by cornerstone:

look at Quebec and out in BC boutique and raw milk cheeses are booming. One can't compete head on with big agro business but as I saw on the CBC tonight there is the beginnings of a local food movement with help from the government in Ontario. It looks like the program is part of the governments "Green Belt" push. It's called Local Food Plus

LFP

As an aside I picked up a bottle of Niagara Wine that had a tag promoting the concept of the "100 mile" diet.

I'm rather optimistic that the recognition and adoption of a local produce and products food chain is going to happen. There is an ever increasing education of the consumer and we should look to Europe on how to do food.



From: Victoria Bc | Registered: Jan 2005  |  IP: Logged
Left J.A.B.
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posted 29 August 2008 10:29 AM      Profile for Left J.A.B.     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by cornerstone:

look at Quebec and out in BC boutique and raw milk cheeses are booming. One can't compete head on with big agro business but as I saw on the CBC tonight there is the beginnings of a local food movement with help from the government in Ontario. It looks like the program is part of the governments "Green Belt" push. It's called Local Food Plus

LFP

As an aside I picked up a bottle of Niagara Wine that had a tag promoting the concept of the "100 mile" diet.

I'm rather optimistic that the recognition and adoption of a local produce and products food chain is going to happen. There is an ever increasing education of the consumer and we should look to Europe on how to do food.


LFP is a good thing, but is a very, very long way from making sure you can buy local food in your local grocery store. Yes downtown Toronto has soom good options, but get much away from there and it is grocery stores where food mostly comes from. You can not get food into those retailers if you are a local farmer.

On top of that, as BA suggests, food regulations have been slowly pushing out local processors for some time now. Here is a link from the National Farmers Union Ontario that is at least 7 years old on this issue. It has become a great deal worse since then.

Small Abattoirs and Meat Inspection in Ontario


From: 4th and Main | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged
Jake
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posted 30 August 2008 09:06 AM      Profile for Jake     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I bought some " Montreal Smoked Meat" at the deli counter of our handy Sobeys store yesterday. When I got home I checked on the CFIA web site and found that Montreal Smoked Meat was on their recall list so I tossed my 150 grams into the garbage.

When I went back today I spoke to the dept Manager and was assured that the product they were selling was a "Compliments" Montreal Smoked Meat ( Sobeys article # 135263) and was not on her recall list. She had no idea where it came from. She gave me phone #s for ML Foods, CFIA, & Sobeys Cust Care.

I tried the ML foods first and got a very nice lady in Texas who knew where Canada was, also knew of Montreal but had no idea who or what Sobeys was. I didnt test her geography further by asking if she knew of Halifax, thanked her for her pleasant manner and went on to CFIA

The person who answered was patient and polite and heard me out but was unable to provide any info on where this Montreal Smoked Meat could have come from. He gave me a CFIA number to call in Moncton. No Luck they are closed till next Tuesday.

So on to Sobeys Cust Care. Same story there closed till Tuesday. I'll follow this last one up next week but am not really hopeful that I'll get a very straight answer.

Jake

PS Re "The Buck Stops Here" from Mr. McCain. I hear the words but suspect that what he really means is "It's my fault and I'll fix it. I don't want any of those nosy GOVERNMENT inspectors in my plants"

J

Or am I being too cynical?

[ 30 August 2008: Message edited by: Jake ]

[ 30 August 2008: Message edited by: Jake ]


From: the recycling bin | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
al-Qa'bong
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posted 30 August 2008 12:10 PM      Profile for al-Qa'bong   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Holy crap! A process that could make something that is unsafe safe. Where can I protest this?

It won't do any good.

I worked for a guy (we were doing renovations, resurfacing rotten old concrete floors in smokehouses, etc., in the local slaughterhouse) who bragged about how when he worked in the slaughterhouse, he found a solution to tons of meat that was turning green.

I don't recall the details, but they involved steaming the outside of the meat to change the colour back to pink. I think the company gave him a box of pork chops or something as a reward.

[ 30 August 2008: Message edited by: al-Qa'bong ]


From: Saskatchistan | Registered: Feb 2003  |  IP: Logged
Lard Tunderin' Jeezus
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posted 30 August 2008 01:26 PM      Profile for Lard Tunderin' Jeezus   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Saw an interesting take on this in this week's Now magazine:
quote:
One microbiologist says the listeria in tainted cold cuts that’s killed 12 people to date is probably a super-germ. Others insist we can’t compare it to the types of super-germs that develop in hospitals as a result of heavy antibiotic exposure. But why isn’t anyone talking about how scientists have been studying the link between resistant forms of listeria and animals hopped-up on antibiotic-laced feed for over a decade?

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Bookish Agrarian
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posted 30 August 2008 01:36 PM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Is that online. I am working on an article for an organization and would love to see it.
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Boom Boom
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posted 30 August 2008 01:47 PM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I'm thinking this Listeria outbreak is probably a strong argument in favour of a more vegetarian diet; maybe not a complete veggie diet, because that's probably not for everyone. I'd make more effort to see that meat, fish, and especially poultry are properly cooked, and veggies and fruit properly rinsed. Those processed cold meats - I think I'll avoid them from now on entirely. Most of that stuff is too greasy and fattening anyway. Veggie or cheese pizza will be my choice as well. I had part of a cold veggie pizza the next morning and I thought it tasted better than the hot version, especially with a hot coffee on the side. I'm going to experiemnt a bit with adding more spices to a veggie pizza - any suggestions? (I already use a commercial "Italian Spices" mix)
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Bookish Agrarian
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posted 30 August 2008 02:04 PM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Two words Boom Boom. California spinach

The real answer is to stop the industrialization and super concentration of our food system and the huge number of convienance foods that have taken away many people's ability to cook foods properly and reduced our food's nutritional value and that includes many so called 'fresh' fruits and vegetables.


From: Home of this year's IPM | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
Sineed
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posted 30 August 2008 03:27 PM      Profile for Sineed     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Bookish Agrarian:
Is that online. I am working on an article for an organization and would love to see it.

It is online, but it's no more than a squib in the "up front" section:
quote:
Deli sandwich

Lost your appetite for deli meat? One microbiologist says the listeria in tainted cold cuts that’s killed 12 people to date is probably a super-germ. Others insist we can’t compare it to the types of super-germs that develop in hospitals as a result of heavy antibiotic exposure. But why isn’t anyone talking about how scientists have been studying the link between resistant forms of listeria and animals hopped-up on antibiotic-laced feed for over a decade? Hold the pastrami, folks.

From: # 668 - neighbour of the beast | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
Bookish Agrarian
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posted 30 August 2008 03:45 PM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Thanks for that. And for teaching me a new word today- squib. Very helpful all around
From: Home of this year's IPM | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
Lard Tunderin' Jeezus
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posted 30 August 2008 03:51 PM      Profile for Lard Tunderin' Jeezus   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Bookish Agrarian - The article is here, but there's not a whole lot more to it.

edited to say:

Clearly, I'm not fast enough.

[ 30 August 2008: Message edited by: Lard Tunderin' Jeezus ]


From: ... | Registered: Aug 2001  |  IP: Logged
Bookish Agrarian
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posted 30 August 2008 03:54 PM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Thanks though, I appreciate it.
I am particularly interested in how a publication like Now sees things

From: Home of this year's IPM | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
Lard Tunderin' Jeezus
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posted 30 August 2008 03:59 PM      Profile for Lard Tunderin' Jeezus   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
You also might want to check out the many articles on the subject online:
quote:
It has been proposed that Enterococcus-Streptococcus constitute a reservoir of resistance genes not only for other gram-positive bacteria but also for gram-negative bacilli (10, 47). It has been further suggested that, in humans and animals, the digestive tract was the privileged site for acquisition, by Listeria spp., of conjugative plasmids and transposons from Enterococcus-Streptococcus (11). The observations on antibiotic resistance in Listeria spp. reported in this review clearly support these hypotheses. Strains of E. faecalis harboring conjugative plasmids or transposons encoding -lactamases and enzymes that confer high-level resistance to gentamicin have been described (39). Acquisition by L. monocytogenes of resistance to these antibiotics would represent a major therapeutic problem in clinical settings. It can be anticipated that the current favorable situation of quasiuniform susceptibility of Listeria spp. to the antibiotics used in clinical practice will deteriorate under the selective pressure exerted by mis- or overuse of the drugs. Antibiotics have also often been used indiscriminately in animal breeding. Since the food origin of human infections is now recognized, it is thus important to test for antibiotic resistance in food-borne and clinical isolates of Listeria and to reconsider critically the use of antibiotics as supplements in animal feed.
One nine year old study.

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Bookish Agrarian
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posted 30 August 2008 05:48 PM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Thanks again. I have some simular stuff already.
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Boom Boom
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posted 30 August 2008 05:57 PM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Bookish Agrarian:
Two words Boom Boom. California spinach

Thanks - I love spinach! I went through a large bag of it last week, couldn't get enough of it. I'll get some more and use it on my next veggie pizza. Sounds delicious.


From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Bookish Agrarian
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posted 30 August 2008 06:02 PM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
No, no, no. California spinach had a huge recall awhile ago becuase bateria, e coli I think in this case, caused a number of deaths and illnesses in North America. The point is industrialized food production is not just meat.
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Boom Boom
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posted 30 August 2008 06:20 PM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I meant spinach in general. I even grew a batch here.
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Bookish Agrarian
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posted 30 August 2008 06:36 PM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Okay Boom Boom
Total thread drift
We grew Red Stem Malabar Spinach commercially for the first time this year. It has been a family treat only in the past. We can't bring enough with us to the farmers market. It sells out faster than hot cakes, not that we have hot cakes mind.

Lovely looking plant too


From: Home of this year's IPM | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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posted 30 August 2008 06:43 PM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I don't have a photo of the spinach I grew, but the leaves were the same as yours. That's a good photo.
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Bookish Agrarian
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posted 30 August 2008 06:49 PM      Profile for Bookish Agrarian   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I'll have to thank the website that I randomly picked the picture from. I am a dud with a camera but I can find a picture on the internet faster than the blink of an eye

See


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Boom Boom
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posted 30 August 2008 06:58 PM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Hahaha!

Next year I'd like to grow much leafier spinach. I think I'll take this to the gardening thread next time.


From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
youngliam
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posted 03 September 2008 06:11 AM      Profile for youngliam   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
It'll be nice if we get a full list of recalled meat, but what we should really do is recall the Conservatives!!
From: London, Ontario | Registered: Sep 2008  |  IP: Logged
martin dufresne
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posted 03 September 2008 06:17 AM      Profile for martin dufresne   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
ROFL!!! That's a great concept! Starting work on a poster of Maple Leaf products with CPC incumbents' photographs matted in... Ain't I glad I hadn't recycled all those supermarket flyers!

[ 03 September 2008: Message edited by: martin dufresne ]


From: "Words Matter" (Mackinnon) | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
N.Beltov
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posted 03 September 2008 06:20 AM      Profile for N.Beltov   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
There's a good electoral slogan in there somewhere. Let's see now ...

It isn't just meat that's tainted. Recall the Conservatives.


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Left J.A.B.
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posted 03 September 2008 01:34 PM      Profile for Left J.A.B.     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Some of you might know this fellow from the NFU

National Farmers Union Ontario Director Grant Robertson

quote:
That this outbreak occurred within days of the revelation that the current federal government has been attempting to cut back on inspections and have industry police itself makes the deaths more tragic and the ideology behind the government’s actions even more disturbing. Media reports detailing a leaked Treasury Board document revealed that the federal cabinet approved plans to dump parts of meat inspections, cuts to BSE testing, and Avian Influenza preparedness funding in November 2007. It is an appalling lack of judgment by those elected to work in the public interest.

Read the whole thing though, it is worth the read.


From: 4th and Main | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
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posted 12 September 2008 08:08 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
One of the last orders of business for Prime Minister Stephen Harper before calling an election was to announce an independent inquiry into the recent outbreak of listeriosis that has killed at least 14 people across Canada....

We don't need more reports to gather dust on shelves. We need our politicians and senior civil servants to read and absorb the analyses of past tragedies - the 540-page Walkerton report of Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor; the 1,004-page report on the provincial response to SARS by Mr. Justice Archie Campbell; and the 234-page report by Dr. David Naylor on the federal response to SARS.

It's all in there in painful detail.

Whether it's water, food or infectious diseases, the principles are the same: You need to invest in public health infrastructure, particularly in good people; you need to value prevention, not just pay lip service; when threats to public health occur, you need to act forcefully and communicate well.

And above all, you need to take responsibility for your actions (and inaction).

That is something government agencies like CFIA and PHAC, and in particular their political masters, seem unable to grasp.

That willful blindness and aversion to leadership is a bigger threat to the health of Canadians than bacteria in luncheon meats. - André Picard



From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
just one of the concerned
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posted 12 September 2008 09:06 PM      Profile for just one of the concerned     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Boom Boom:
I'm thinking this Listeria outbreak is probably a strong argument in favour of a more vegetarian diet.

It's an argument for higher quality food. Listeria can come from vegetables.


From: in the cold outside of the cjc | Registered: Jan 2008  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
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posted 17 September 2008 10:15 AM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Canadian Medical Assn Journal slams Harper on listeriosis
quote:
The current government's policies on public health mean Canada may be less prepared than in the past for an influenza pandemic, outbreaks of listeriosis and other epidemics, the Canadian Medical Association Journal said Tuesday.

An editorial in the journal criticizes the Conservative government's policies, and an accompanying news article reports that changes to meat inspection rules that took effect in April mean contamination at meat processing plants may no longer automatically result in a shutdown.

The changes came to light in a leaked chapter of an updated version of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's manual on meat inspections.

"The current government's policies have contributed to the unravelling of public health safeguards, with the move to self-inspection by industry and the lack of an independent public health officer," the journal said in a news release.

"The listeriosis epidemic is a timely reminder that the Harper government has reversed much of the progress that previous governments made on governing for public health," the lead editorial said.

For example, Harper eliminated the Public Health Agency of Canada's ministerial seat in cabinet, the creation of which was one of the recommendations of the National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health.

Since the chief medical officer remained a civil servant working under the health minister, "it left our country without a national independent voice to speak out on public health issues, including providing visible leadership during this [listeriosis] crisis," the editorial said.

Harper has called an "independent investigation" into the listeriosis epidemic that has killed at 16 people. But the editors said that under the terms of reference:

• The investigator will not have the power to subpoena witnesses or documents.

• The investigation will not be public.

• There is no commitment to publishing the findings or reporting to Parliament.



From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged

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