AR-News: (CA) Human flesh possiibly contaminated some BC pork

[cathy goeggel]

      Human flesh possibly contaminated some BC pork products

      by Brendan O'Neill on 3/12/04 for Meatingplace.com

      Pork products from a farm in British Columbia, Canada, may have been
contaminated with human remains, according to British Columbia's provincial
health officer.

      Authorities are trying to track down evidence tied to Robert Pickton,
who is accused of 15 counts of murder in connection to the disappearances of
65 women in Vancouver.

      For years, Pinkton and his family delivered hog products to the West
Coast Reduction rendering plant in Vancouver.

      "We can't rule out the possibility of cross-contamination," Dr. Perry
Kendall told reporters yesterday, adding: "It's very disturbing to think
about, but there's that possibility of some cross-contamination. But the
degree of it or when or how much we really don't know."

      Pickton was never a member of the B.C. Pork Producers Association, nor
the B.C. Hog Marketing Commission. His farm has never been a licensed
slaughterhouse but has slaughtered pigs, according to reports in Canada's
National Post newspaper.

      A report by the Vancouver Sun suggested Pickton might have met with
prostitutes during his delivery trips to the rendering plant. Federal food
inspection officials reportedly investigated the plant and are confident
that only pork materials were been received, even though the plant's
screening procedures involved only a visual check for chemical residues.





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