Canada Supplied Tainted Meat

[Oldtimer]

Canadian firm likely supplied tainted beef



WASHINGTON (AP) -- A now-defunct Canadian beef firm was the likely source of
bacteria-contaminated meat used to make frozen hamburgers that later sickened 40 people in eight states, the Agriculture Department said Friday.

A joint U.S.-Canadian investigation matched the DNA fingerprint of E. coli O157:H7
bacteria isolated from beef trim that had remained in storage with Rancher's Beef Ltd. to samples taken both from victims of the food poisoning outbreak and packages, both intact and opened, of New Jersey-based Topps Meat Co. frozen hamburgers. Rancher's Beef of Balzac, Alberta, had supplied Topps with beef trim used to make the patties, the USDA said.

A message left with Rancher's Beef, which has ceased operations, was not immediately returned.

http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl ... 1/71026053

 

[Oldtimer]

10/28/2007 12:16:00 PM


Beef Update: CFIA Investigates E. coli Cases In Canada



OTTAWA, October 26, 2007 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) are currently investigating possible linkages between E. coli cases that occurred earlier this summer in Canada.


The investigation is examining 45 cases of E. coli O157:H7 that were found in New Brunswick, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Ontario and British Columbia. These cases were previously reported from July to September, 2007. As a result of these cases, eleven people were hospitalized and one elderly individual died.



Ongoing testing has determined that most of the cases share a unique pattern of E. coli and the cause of the illnesses has been mostly associated with ground beef. This new E. coli pattern has also been found in the United States, and we are working closely with our counterparts at the United States Department of Agriculture to share information. We greatly appreciate the USDA's input and cooperation in this investigation.



The same unique E. coli pattern that was found in the majority of cases this summer has been found through genetic testing of samples of beef taken from a meat facility in Alberta.



This facility is currently not operating. The company has contacted its primary distributors to return any affected product. All remaining product is under detention. CFIA is actively investigating this and other potential sources to determine if there is a link between this facility and the cases under investigation.



At this time, CFIA is working to ensure that there is no contaminated beef from the facility in Alberta available to consumers. If the investigation reveals that product is still on the market, a public recall will be issued.



Federal officials are also working with their counterparts in other jurisdictions and are taking all the necessary steps to protect the public. The Government remains vigilant and committed to maintaining and improving Canada's food safety system by ensuring national and international industry standards are upheld.



Canadians are reminded that a number of simple steps should be taken when cooking with ground beef to reduce the likelihood of E. coli. Specifically, thoroughly cooking the meat and using safe handling practices can reduce the risk of illness. For more information, please refer to the following fact sheet:



http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fss ... olie.shtml.



For more information, consumers can call CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday). To receive information on food recalls or allergy alert notices by e-mail, or for other food safety facts, visit the CFIA web site at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/recalls.

 

[Oldtimer]

Does USDA know something about Canadian processing problems that they aren't telling us :???: I wonder if the Cargill processing plants that have just been recalled are receiving trim from Canada too :???: Or are they trying to cover for the Packers and stick this all on Canada :???:

For this USDA-- this is considered a DRASTIC move.....

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News/NR_110307_01/index.asp


Congressional and Public Affairs
(202) 720-9113
Amanda Eamich


Statement of Dr. Richard Raymond Regarding Increased Testing and Re-inspection of Imported Meat and Poultry Products from Canada


"The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has instituted additional import requirements for meat and poultry products from Canada. Effective next week, FSIS will increase testing for Salmonella, Listeria Monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 and will require that shipments be held until testing is complete and products are confirmed negative for these pathogens. In addition, Canadian meat and poultry products will receive increased levels of re-inspection by FSIS to confirm they are eligible to enter commerce when presented at the U.S. border.

"FSIS will also immediately begin an audit of the Canadian food safety system that will focus on Ranchers Beef, Ltd. and will include other similar establishments that export beef to the U.S. Based on information provided by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), FSIS had previously identified this Canadian plant, which has ceased operations, as a likely source of the multi-state outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to the Topps Meat Company. As the result of that recall investigation, FSIS delisted Ranchers Beef, Ltd., Canadian establishment number 630, on October 20, 2007. No product from that firm has been eligible to enter into the U.S. since that date.


"The audit and stepped up actions at the border are being conducted because of concerns about testing practices at Ranchers Beef, Ltd. that were discovered as part of the ongoing investigation.


"FSIS will review the preliminary findings of this audit to determine whether there is need to continue these additional interim requirements. The FSIS team for this audit will include top officials from the Office of International Affairs and the Office of Program Evaluation, Enforcement and Review.


"These measures are being taken to further ensure the equivalency of the system already in place. We continue to work together with our food safety partners both domestically and internationally to ensure imported meat and poultry products are produced under systems at least equivalent to those in the United States.


"Yesterday FSIS Administrator Alfred Almanza and an additional senior FSIS food safety official met with their counterparts at the CFIA to inform them of increased testing and re-inspection requirements."

 

[SheriMonk]

Well, seeing as our two biggest plants are owned by Cargill and Lakeside, I sure hope they don't discover variances between how they operate north and south of the border.

I wonder if there wasn't quite a lot of slacking off or deliberate lessened quality at Rancher's before they shut down.

 

[Oldtimer]

Well, seeing as our two biggest plants are owned by Cargill and Lakeside, I sure hope they don't discover variances between how they operate north and south of the border.

I wonder if there wasn't quite a lot of slacking off or deliberate lessened quality at Rancher's before they shut down.

Yep--Sheri-- sure makes you wonder if they weren't all sourcing all that bad meat from the same place....I see where yesterday General Mills had a recall on 5 million pepperoni pizza's--but they wouldn't name the source of the pepperoni..

These folks on both sides the border need to get their acts together-- and test this stuff and find it before they distribute it and have to issue recalls... :shock: Not been good for consumer confidence...

 

[SheriMonk]

I think it's fairly obvious it was all from the same place.

Rancher's didn't have a huge capacity, did they? I mean compared to Cargill's Excel or Tyson's Lakeside?

I wonder how much trim there was - for so much to be recalled, wouldn't that mean that the contamination was ongoing for some time?

So what does that mean in terms of how the actual contamination took place? Because isn't E. coli typically spread by manure coming into contact with the meat from not having been properly cleaned?

I guess I could probably answer all my own questions with some research, but sometimes it's just fun to think out loud.

We go to press tomorrow afternoon, I guess I'm going in tonight though there's no way I'll get anyone from the CFIA or USDA to talk tonight, I guess.

 

[Oldtimer]

Well what happened down here anyway-- and I understand with Canada too-- is that the governments policy has been to leave most oversight and testing to the Packers/Processers...And it turned out to be a Fox guarding the Henhouse situation....

If you want to research this -- google in John Munsell--- and read about him and his small Miles City, Montana packing/grinding plant...How he caught the big Packers shipping him tainted beef- numerous times, but the USDA/government refused to listen to him--until their was a big recall...

He pretty well predicted all this would come to be several years ago.....

Those Big Corporates could care less about the quality of the product-as long as the supply is CHEAP and they are profitting.....

 

[SheriMonk]

Thanks - I'll do that.

I had no idea CFIA or USDA relied upon industry self-testing.
I mean... that's a disaster waiting to happen because it does only take one.

Turns out, same concept for oil and gas rigs here in Saskatchewan. Though they must submit an expensive and thick paper environmental assessment, there is little follow up to ensure that the efforts have actually been done to mitigate the damage or that those mitigations are working.

I interviewed Mike Callicrate recently - he was a good interview and an excellent introduction to the American cattle industry. The article went over really well locally.

 

[Oldtimer]

Thanks - I'll do that.

I had no idea CFIA or USDA relied upon industry self-testing.
I mean... that's a disaster waiting to happen because it does only take one.

Turns out, same concept for oil and gas rigs here in Saskatchewan. Though they must submit an expensive and thick paper environmental assessment, there is little follow up to ensure that the efforts have actually been done to mitigate the damage or that those mitigations are working.

I interviewed Mike Callicrate recently - he was a good interview and an excellent introduction to the American cattle industry. The article went over really well locally.

Mike has a lot of good info- having been in the business for years....If you do your research- you will find that your Canadian cattle organizations like ABP and CCA are the same Corporate Packer pawns that the NCBA (National Cattlemans Beef Association) is down here-- and support only the issues that benefit the big Corporate Packers and oppose those that benefit the small Packer or individual family type farmer/rancher that our countries were founded and built on-- Just Packer Pawns ....And since they have "had" uncontested control/voice to the legislature and administration of both countries for years-- have set up rules that greatly benefit themselves at the loss to the rancher and consumer....Now in the last few years- true rancher/cow-calf man organizations are evolving...

A good person to talk to - to get the true story of Canada is Cam Ostercamp- or Randy Kaiser that posts as rkaiser on both http://www.ranchersnet or Agriville-- both are founding members of the BIG-C cattlemans group in Canada- and have a lot of info on the current situation with the US Big Corporate Packers dominating your industry...

rkaiser has posted some of Cam's beliefs on ranchersnet today on the Bull Sessions thread....

 

[SheriMonk]

Thank you SO much. I will look them up shortly.

 

[SheriMonk]

The Cargill recalls so far have not been linked to Rancher's Beef in Alberta. In fact, the only recalls that have been linked were Topps.

And that stems from just one production day at Rancher's Beef.
At this point, the CFIA is unable to link any other of the E. coli contaminations to Rancher's Beef.

That Topps had to recall so much is not relative to the amount of contaminated trim that Rancher's sent them.

 

[skcatlman]

Been gone a while but last week, Ranchers was on the news the CFIA cleared them. The TOPPS e.coli contamination was not from them. :cry2: USDA-FSIS was WRONG. If anyone wants to check it out go to the CTV.ca archives.

 

[Oldtimer]

Been gone a while but last week, Ranchers was on the news the CFIA cleared them. The TOPPS e.coli contamination was not from them. :cry2: USDA-FSIS was WRONG. If anyone wants to check it out go to the CTV.ca archives.

Coming from you saskartoon- I'd prefer to see some links and articles as your credibility has been quite dubious...If I remember right you were the one that was proclaiming that you were a big buddy with the high leader of Ranchers and that he was telling you that their wasn't any financial problems- a week before it locked its doors :roll: So much for Ranchers credibility too..........

Funny how the CFIA still has the recall on- and no news of a cancellation :???:

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/cor ... toce.shtml

And the only things showing when you search CTV.ca are

Search for [ ranchers beef ] on CTV Toronto

CTV.ca News (2 results)
CFIA expands contaminated beef warning (11/13/2007)

A public warning issued last week about possibly contaminated beef has been expanded to include additional stores and products.

Warning issued over ground beef sold in B.C. (10/28/2007)

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a health warning about several beef products sold in two B.C. communities.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate/ ... &x=29&y=12

saskartoon- Have you been gone visiting Santy and the elves? Hows Tinkerbell and PeterPan and all the other things you been dreaming in never never land? ;-) :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[SheriMonk]

Here's the deal.

Ranchers, thus far, has been shown to cause one production day of contamination. ONE.

That comes straight from the mouth of CFIA.

The USDA increased border inspections have already been called off as a result of the investigations into similar establishments to Rancher's that found no evidence of slack record keeping or safety procedures.

But the biggest joke of all is that anyone would try and turn this into a border issue. It's late. The best analogy I can muster up.... is trying to decide if Al Quaida members from pakistan or afghanistan are worse.

Apply that to the US and Canada cattle industry.

Same same.

 

[Oldtimer]

Here's the deal.

Ranchers, thus far, has been shown to cause one production day of contamination. ONE.

That comes straight from the mouth of CFIA.

.

Problem is the way they mix and remix this stuff- trim/ground beef from one days production could have gone to 50 or 100 different mixing plants, or gone out in 50 different batches and/or several days production...With each remixing tainting even more- that is than sold to thousands of retail outlets under 100's of names...

Congress is working on solving this remixing problem- looking at requiring testing both when the product comes into a remixer from the slaughter plant- and before it goes out after grinding- and requiring holding the product until the test results come back negative....And requiring more traceback on batch sources...
Also they just passed the farm bill- which requires M-COOL which will slow down much of this mixing- especially intermixing with products from different countries....

USDA has been less than open about where many of these recalls were tracked to-refusing to give out sources- in order to protect their buddies (the Multinational Mafia)...

SheriMonk- If your interested in all the recalls (both countries)- the Bull Sessions section of Ranchersnet has an extensive posting of recalls- and problems found......

 

[skcatlman]

That's oldtimer for ya. Personal attacks :roll: maybe i should stop by when i'm traveling with cattle sold into the US this fall/winter - 4 states 4 herdbull deliveries so far, maybe OT can explain why he makes personal attacks without provocation. Or is this old coot going to attack me for spending money in the US and helping their floundering economy. :roll: As for links OT maybe you can interntionally not find any again just like the BSE cows in the US that don't exsist either :roll: or are you just grumpy r-calf keeps on getting beaten down :cboy:

 

[Oldtimer]

That's oldtimer for ya. Personal attacks :roll: maybe i should stop by when i'm traveling with cattle sold into the US this fall/winter - 4 states 4 herdbull deliveries so far, maybe OT can explain why he makes personal attacks without provocation. Or is this old coot going to attack me for spending money in the US and helping their floundering economy. :roll: As for links OT maybe you can interntionally not find any again just like the BSE cows in the US that don't exsist either :roll: or are you just grumpy r-calf keeps on getting beaten down :cboy:

In other words, I was right again--- you don't have any links- and there never was any- EH ;-) :lol:

 

[rkaiser]

Hay there Sheri Monk,

Whatcha doing chatting over here with the Old Fart. Come on over to

http://www.agri-ville.com/cgi-bin/forum ... Production

and get dome Canadian perspective. You are going to make Oldtimer's head too big for his hat --- thinking he is some kind of authority or something. :roll:

 

[frenchie]

In other words, I was right again--- you don't have any links- and there never was any- EH ;-) :lol:

skcatlman
Kinda of sounds like OT has been spending way too much time sneaking into the nearest Canadian Indian reservation EH :lol: probaly checking on those wild oats he sowed :lol:

 

[skcatlman]

Ok OT i will lead you by the hand like an alsheimers patient and lead you thru this. go to transcriptarchives @ctv.ca. The show was the daily farm news also replayed on weekends on the farmgate program the news director is Bob Simpson. It will cost you $20 a page to get the transcripts of the daily news you can start looking 3 weeks ago. Use the keywords - ranchers beef, CFIA, E.Coli, Cleared and you will find the individual episode where Bob Simpson CTV Saskatchewan Broadcaster stated "the CFIA has cleared Ranchers beef in the TOPPS meat recall " so OT you can start now and apologize. Or you can go change the subject or do your famous vanishing act as you often do when you find out you are wrong. See you in a while i expect the vanishing act. No BSE cows live on the moon . How about that for an subject change OT you can go comtemplate beef production on the moon and have a captive market :roll: Or complain again that the grammer or spelling in my posts need improvement :lol: