Press release
For immediate release
Feds warn Porkgate poses "possible food safety problem"
Canada's federal food inspection agency has become the second public health service to alert Manitobans of the potential health hazard of 1500 pounds of frozen pork that was delivered to striking Winnipeg Free Press employees.
Free Press reporters have claimed that the taxpayer-subsidized pork came off the back of an unidentified truck courtesy of an anonymous supporter of the strikers. Some of the meat was obviously spoiled and had to be thrown out. Most of the rest was taken to strike headquarters and distributed to picketers, who refroze it with the stated intention of giving the meat to the poor and needy in Christmas hampers.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reviewed the situation at the request of The Great Canadian Talk Show and warned:
"if the product thawed or was held for any length of time at temperatures that would permit microbial growth, it then becomes a possible food safety problem."
The CFIA is the second government agency to express alarm over the distribution of possibly tainted meat. Last month City of Winnipeg health officials cautioned that:
* meat that is not, or has not been, properly stored can certainly pose a risk if consumed;
* it is not recommended practice to refreeze meat;
* consumers should be cautious if they do not know how food has been handled and stored prior to receiving it.
http://tgcts.blogspot.com/2008/10/city-health-department-issues-caution.html
Winnipeg Harvest co-ordinator David Northcott said the pork was top-grade and properly frozen in Harvest freezers before being distributed to one of the city's food banks. He has been unable to identify which food bank the pork came from, and he cannot say under what conditions it was stored once it left Harvest's control.
What's apparent from the accounts of Free Press strikers, is that the pork had become tainted by improper storage at some point.
Agriculture Minister Rosann Wowchuk said on October 28th she was "very concerned with what happened in regards to the incident" and this week announced a new provincial food traceability system emphasizing "the importance of access to timely information, when needed, at any point along the supply chain, for safety and quality assurance reasons."
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, after consulting the Medical Officer of Health, referred inquiries about the possible safety issues of thawed pork to the CFIA.
The Minister of Health, Theresa Oswald has not responded to a subsequent inquiry asking if she is now investigating the source of the pork and how it was handled, or if she will issue a food safety warning about the possibility that tainted Winnipeg Harvest-labeled pork may be distributed in hampers to the poor this Christmas.
For more information contact
talk@kick.fm
*****************
Today from 4-5 PM, our guest will be Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz.
