Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 17, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free october 1995 a3 putting a Price on water safety Marc free press thirty one per cent of ground beef purchased for a 1990 were that Burger could be tainted local study finds ground beef spoiled by Coli by Paul Wiecek investigative reporter Burger lovers beware there is an excellent Chance the next pack of ground beef you buy at the store will have cow manure mixed in somewhere with All that Lovely red its an unappetizing but All too real borne out by a local study which found Over 30 per cent of ground beef sold in Winnipeg stores is tainted with Coli the bacteria that causes Ham Burger and theres Only one place that bacteria comes from and its not its present in everyone digestive Doug a scientist at the provinces cad Ham said last Milley said the Coli Bug is essential to digesting food but the problems arise when it gets mixed in with beef while cows Are being slaughtered and and As unappealing As that its also apparently happening far More than people would like to according to a 1990 study con ducted by the Cadham Laboratory and obtained by the free 31 per cent of the ground beef purchased at local stores contained the telltale Poison emitted by some forms of the study took 67 meat samples from one grocery store 56 samples from another grocery store Chain and 112 samples from various Independent stores and the study did not identify which chains were researchers found 40 per cent of the samples from the first Chain were 20 per cent from the second Chain and 31 per cent from the Independent in a total of 73 samples were 31 per cent of the 235 samples the study also found that con Sumers cannot guarantee them selves purity by paying More for leaner ground the study found lean beef actually had a better Chance of being tainted than regular hot off the Grill and another study suggests buying burgers hot off the Grill also comes with risks of its a study conducted by Munici pal and provincial health inspectors in March 1993 found that five of 100 burgers ordered to go from local Burger outlets were not cooked Well enough to have killed off the Coli bacteria and one of those in con eating a contaminated Burger can cause abdominal vomit bloody diarrhoea and an estimated 10 per cent of people who eat contaminated burgers also go on to develop hem Lytic uraemic which can cause damage to Virtu ally All the body organs and in extreme the entire can be eliminated by simply Mak ing sure the burgers you eat Are cooked despite the local Burger joints report they still get the occasional request for a rare Burger even though its against City health bylaws to serve we still get the occasional per son who wants one and we have to explain that we cant do that any says Tim manager of Kathy spokesman for the beef information Centre in said the Industry is aware of the problem and is working on two she said one of the studies is focussing on a Way to minimize the amount of manure cows get on each other while being transported to the the other study is looking into reports that keeping cattle Well fed and watered right up to Slaughter something Industry insiders say they dont like to do because theres no payoff in increased weight actually Low ers the Levels of Coli in their Keeler said the beef Industry also supports developing a con Sumer education program on food handling and even a pro Gram that would see All raw meat labelled with instructions on How to prepare but Keeler said the billion Dol Lar year Industry is not willing to pick up the Tab itself unless the Chicken and Turkey folks get on Board we would want full Industry she saying it would be too expensive for the Industry to mount such a Campaign by outbreak could leave province helpless continued from a1 Doug a scientist at the provinces Cadham said those changes mean the province has also lost the capacity to test for Western Equine encephalitis a potentially fatal disease spread by mosquitoes and for a parasite spread by beavers which can contaminate the water he said both tests must now be conducted out of who is a nationally recognized expert in Coli said the province can Only test now for the most common virulent Strain of the called but there Are More than 100 others which can be just As making the single test relatively meaningless in terms of protecting Public the exist ing single test also misses Low lev Els of that Are still sufficient to sicken Milley Milley said the Only Way to do that is to test for the Poison emitted by the strains of that cause hamburger but the province indirectly lost its capability to do those tests when it moved its eight person Environ mental microbiology unit from Cadham lab to a facility on Logan Avenue earlier this i was the Only one doing it and when they i took another he provincial officials confirmed no one has moved in to replace Milley and the work he was doing on but downplayed the but Milley said the province would now Likely be forced to ship meat samples to Ottawa for test ing if there were an outbreak and the delay could result in Many More people becoming sick before the source is Ive often wondered what they would do if there was an outbreak Here and they had to Trace it Milley we could treat the people but How would we be Able to Trace the source i seriously dont the province Doest seem sure that Hast come said shirt a supervisor at the provinces environmental sciences Centre on Logan i imag Ine we would be shipping it Milley said theres no reason to believe that the rate of infection today is any less than the 30 per cent discovered in the 1990 because the province no longer does that kind of he said its difficult to know for the 30 per cent contaminant figure is widely believed to be the average for ground beef across North Manitoba officials say that one reason their 1990 study was never released was because it merely reinforced what they already suspected about the prevalence of tainted nip health critic Dave Chomiak called the situation scandalous and charged the province has placed the safety of its citizens in Treyve put the Public health at Chomiak protecting our food and water Supply should it be something we do As individuals for its something we do As a Community because its the to province to charge for lab tests investigative reporter what Price Public health that the Crux of a Sim Mering debate in the scientific Community sparked by the provinces decision to begin charging the City and surrounding towns to do Laboratory tests on food and water the province has always borne the costs of such testing in the tacitly accepting responsibility for ensuring the food and water sup ply of its citizens is but no beginning next the province has warned the municipal governments that there will be no More free rides for pub lic health its All part of a bigger move by the province to have its environmental microbiology unit the lab that does almost All of the testing for health inspectors in the province Start making some Money instead of just spend ing paying for tests so if for wants its water Supply tested for bacteria every week something required under provincial Legisla Tion or if Gimli officials want food tested to determine the source of a food poisoning then Gimli and Teulon can pay for the province or Portage la or Plum or but the you you pay Mes Sage has those responsible for ensuring the safety of the food and water Supply in Manitoba fearing Public safety is being sacrificed on the altar of fiscal restraint just like Many other government services before and its not just any other government says Dean Winnipeg chief health it be an Issue of were talking about the very basics of life Here food and Sargeant Sargeant said Hes not sure whats going to happen with win Nipges health inspection programs if the province goes through with its pledge to Start charging for test i dont know what were going keep yourself Safe with these tips for All the problems col tainted ground beef it is actually fairly simple to keep yourself Safe by just following a few careful 1 refrigerate or freeze raw meat As soon As grows in always Wash your hands after handling raw meat and before handling anything the same goes for Cut Ting boards and use hot soapy freezing Doest kill just puts it to thaw meat in a microwave or the refrigerator dont leave it sitting on a Cook meat Well there should be no Pink in the meat and the juices should run Brown or not Pink or to he the province warned the City and surrounding communities last year that they would have to Start picking up the Tab for testing Start ing in april 1995 but backed Down when there were howls of but Sargeant said the province is now pledging to Start charging in april 1996 and Hes not expecting a Las minute reprieve this the main Sargeant is he has no Money to pick up the Tab for the estimated annually Worth of tests the province currently conducts on food and water samples for the a problem he shares with All the towns who also rely on the province for their As Sargent sees he has three distinct options if the province decides to go ahead with its plan pass on the costs of the tests to the people who request them apart ment residents concerned about the Quality of their buildings for Lay off some employees at the health depart ment or dont do any More testing at Chomiak wrong direction while they Are Sargeant says he Doest like any of passing on the for will discourage people with genuine health concerns from calling the laying off employees also Doest help the Public health and not testing at places the whole concept of Public health in Sargeant if you cant Sample and test How do you know if its Safe you cannot just rely on instinct in these a request to discuss the Issue with health minister Jim Mccrae was referred by his press Secre tary to Jim Vic Epresi Dent of the provinces economic innovation and technology coun whose report several years ago led to the Reichert confirmed the changes were in part geared to make the lab More cos effective and orders have been handed Down to Start looking at Cost but Reichert denied the move is jeopardizing Public theres been no degradation in the ability to provide Public health Protection he nip health critic Dave Chomiak disagrees and says the province is moving in exactly the opposite direction it they should be encouraging More Public health not Chomiak that what preventative health care is All about and that supposed to be the buzzword these Chomiak said he intends to raise the Issue in the our motto is simple sell for less More often 95 Ranger Al sport 95 escort la 4 5 overdrive cassette Power steering 3 Only your Choice 3 air cd player 3 onlys Low As 95 f150 pickup 6 5 with dual tanks More 162 95 mystique with cassette t dual air tinted Glass More 94 Cougar xr7 2 sport Coupe loaded v8 96 f150 4x4 6 5 overdrive dual tanks more1 2 Only your Choice 95f150supercab 95 Sable is Short tilt cruise much 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