Food Poisoning - PMWS

Pat's Note:

This looks like the denouement.

We know that PMWS infected pig herds also have high levels of salmonella etc
present, quite aside from whatever other unknown human health risks are
involved.

We know that PMWS mutated in 1999, almost certainly in Britain, into
something rather nastier. As soon as Britain could exports of live pigs for
breeding were restarted, despite the fact that no test for PMWS was
available. The former President of the OIE criticised Britain for failing to
make the disease notifible.

We know that very high levels of antibiotics are used to try to keep the
situation under control.

We know that the French Food Standards Agency are complaining about a
toxoplasmosis cover-up in British pigs.

We know that Scotpigs collapsed under the strain of handling a PMWS epidemic
and that the sick pigs were shipped south, by the receiver, to England for
slaughter. Quality Meat Scotland threw them out of their scheme, but only at
the last moment.

We know that there have been human deaths on the Continent from salmonella
thought to be associated with PMWS sick pigs.

We know that senior veterinarians from both the State Veterinary Service and
now the Food Standards Agency were involved in a plot to intimidate the
writer for giving evidence to a Select Committee of the House of Commons in
2000, and to cover up blood test faking in East Anglian pigs during the 2000
East Anglian Swine Fever epidemic.

We know that an internal investigation into criminal actions by Scottish
vets operating in England was conducted by the Scottish SVS officials
without the involvement of the English police and that the SVS were
wrongfully using Scottish Executive letterheads to deal with the matter.

We know much more.

Now, I don't think this particular investigation is that significant other
than the fact that they will be able to say "we have the matter under
investigation."

But I was expecting something like this, and when you can anticipate the
actions of the "other side" you are winning.

http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=927492006

Probe into red meat safety after increase in poisoning cases

JEREMY WATSON ( jwatson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)

AN INVESTIGATION into the safety of red meat has been ordered after it
emerged beef, lamb and pork are linked to one in six food poisoning
outbreaks.

The Food Standards Agency will test 6,000 samples of red meat in
supermarkets and butchers across the UK over the next 15 months in an
attempt to identify the cause of the outbreaks. Although most cases of food
poisoning are associated with poultry, dairy or shellfish, the FSA is
concerned about the mysteriously high number of outbreaks now linked to red
meat.

Raw red meat can harbour a range of dangerous organisms - including E coli,
salmonella and campylobacter - which can cause poisoning if not stored or
prepared properly.

The growing popularity of home barbecues is partly responsible for an
increase in consumption of red meat and that could also explain some of the
poisoning cases. The FSA investigation follows the first rise in food
poisoning cases in Scotland for a decade. Figures released by environmental
health experts this month recorded 7,147 cases last year, a 6% increase on
2004.

An agency spokeswoman said the random tests were being carried out to gather
information on the type and amount of bacteria present on the surface of
joints and cuts of raw red meat on sale in the UK.

"Samples of red meat will be tested for a range of bacteria that can cause
problems with cross-contamination during food preparation and may be the
cause of food poisoning if food has not been prepared properly," she said.

The samples from every part of the UK will be tested at the government's
Central Science Laboratory in York.

The agency said research over an eight-year period had found that
consumption of red meat was linked to 16% of food poisoning outbreaks.

The spokeswoman added: "The agency is concerned about the number of food
poisoning outbreaks that have been associated with red meat. We felt that
the survey needed to be conducted as there is limited information on current
contamination levels in red meat sold at retail in the UK."

Dr John Cowden, a food-borne diseases specialist with Health Protection
Scotland, said food poisoning outbreaks involving red meat were usually
caused by either cross-contamination or inadequate cooking.

"The problems start when animals go to abattoirs with faeces on them," he
said. "That gets on to the surface of the raw meat. Raw meat can have a lot
of pathogens [harmful bacteria] on it but that's OK because we cook it.

"As the pathogens will be on the surface of the meat, a rare steak will be
OK. The problem arises when you have products like burgers when the meat is
minced. The surface contaminants may get to the centre of the burger."

The Royal Environmental Health Institute Scotland, which represents the
environmental health officers who inspect food premises, estimates that the
real incidence of food poisoning cases in Scotland is 10 times higher than
official figures as most cases go unreported. This means that the true toll
of food poisoning in Scotland could be as high as 70,000 cases a year. A
REHIS spokesman said it welcomed the FSA initiative as it would give
environmental health officers better information on bacteria levels on raw
meat.
"Cross contamination can be a problem in retail outlets," said Graham
Walker, the director of training. "The meat goes into the shop unwrapped and
is chopped up and stored beside ready-to-eat food. If the hygiene standards
are not right then there can be contamination. Similar problems can also
occur in the home."

Industry research has revealed that many consumers still don't follow basic
hygiene rules. A Food and Drink Federation survey published earlier this
year found only 54% knew burgers and sausages needed to be cooked through.

The world's worst outbreak of E coli food poisoning was in Lanarkshire in
1996 when 21 people died after eating contaminated meat supplied by a
butcher's in Wishaw.

Health authorities said that the shopkeeper, John Barr, had been ignorant of
hygiene procedures and deceived inspectors. Cold, cooked meats stored on the
premises had become cross-contaminated.

Last month, health chiefs in North Lanarkshire ordered the temporary closure
of a butcher's shop in the village of Law after three linked cases of E coli
poisoning, also believed to have been caused by cross-contamination.

They advised customers who had bought products from J&H Cairns to dispose of
them.

Professor Hugh Pennington, the microbiologist who led the Lanarkshire E coli
investigation, said: "This survey will be useful as it will give us
information on what contamination levels are now so we can measure them in
the future. The chances of reducing contamination to zero is remote but if
we identify where in the food chain it is occurring we can do something
about it."

Quality Meat Scotland, which represents meat producers, said it did not want
to comment on the survey, but a spokeswoman added: "We will support any
measure that improves food safety."

BACTERIA: FROM ABATTOIR TO PLATE

IF RAW red meat becomes contaminated with bacteria then it usually occurs
first at the abattoir. All three of the main culprit bacteria that can cause
human infection - E coli O157, campylobacter and salmonella - live naturally
in the guts of farmyard animals and are present in their faeces.

Although abattoirs clean carcasses, some faecal traces can remain and the
bacteria can live on the meat surface. Once it reaches the butchers, meat is
divided into separate cuts and any remaining bacteria can be spread. If
storage is inadequate or personal hygiene is poor, bacteria can be
transferred to other products.

If raw meat is cooked, the surface bacteria will be destroyed. Problems
arise with products like burgers when surface bacteria may be mixed into the
centre and then inadequately cooked.

And if bacteria is transferred from a raw to a cooked meat product in a
butcher's shop, there will be no further cooking process before consumption.

This is believed to have been the process of contamination in the Wishaw
outbreak in which more than 20 people died from E coli O157 poisoning.



Regards
Pat Gardiner
www.go-self-sufficient.com


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