So much for my ham sandwich fetish:
Human remains from Pickton farm may have reached food supply
Canadian Press
Vancouver — Human remains were likely in meat processed for human consumption at the Pickton pig farm, B.C.'s provincial health officer confirmed Wednesday.
"What I know from the RCMP is we can't rule out the possibility of cross contamination," Dr. Perry Kendall said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
When asked if cross-contamination meant human remains found their way into meat processed at the infamous farm, Dr. Kendall said:
"It's very disturbing to think about, but [there is] the possibility of some cross-contamination. But the degree of it or when or how much we really don't know."
"I think if we could rule it out, we definitely would like to."
Robert Pickton faces 15 counts of first-degree murder in the disappearance of women from Vancouver's seedy Downtown Eastside.
Police have said they have found human remains and other DNA samples at the farm Mr. Pickton owned with brother and sister just east of Vancouver.
Mr. Kendall said he was asked by Health Canada to do a "worst-case assessment" and to look into the health risk from consumption from that slaughterhouse.
"There's a very low risk of any human disease being transmitted in that fashion," Mr. Kendall said.
Mr. Pickton, 54, is not expected to go to trial until late this year or early in 2005.
Police executed a raid on the farm owned by Mr. Pickton and his two siblings on Feb. 6, 2002.
Investigators wrapped up a mass excavation and property search last November.
The charges against Mr. Pickton so far are four more than the number admitted to by Canada's most notorious serial killer, Clifford Robert Olson.
Corporal Catherine Galliford of the Missing Women's Task Force would not confirm or deny Kendall's information.
Police scheduled a news conference for later in the afternoon.
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Human remains from Pickton farm may have reached food supply
Canadian Press
Vancouver — Human remains were likely in meat processed for human consumption at the Pickton pig farm, B.C.'s provincial health officer confirmed Wednesday.
"What I know from the RCMP is we can't rule out the possibility of cross contamination," Dr. Perry Kendall said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
When asked if cross-contamination meant human remains found their way into meat processed at the infamous farm, Dr. Kendall said:
"It's very disturbing to think about, but [there is] the possibility of some cross-contamination. But the degree of it or when or how much we really don't know."
"I think if we could rule it out, we definitely would like to."
Robert Pickton faces 15 counts of first-degree murder in the disappearance of women from Vancouver's seedy Downtown Eastside.
Police have said they have found human remains and other DNA samples at the farm Mr. Pickton owned with brother and sister just east of Vancouver.
Mr. Kendall said he was asked by Health Canada to do a "worst-case assessment" and to look into the health risk from consumption from that slaughterhouse.
"There's a very low risk of any human disease being transmitted in that fashion," Mr. Kendall said.
Mr. Pickton, 54, is not expected to go to trial until late this year or early in 2005.
Police executed a raid on the farm owned by Mr. Pickton and his two siblings on Feb. 6, 2002.
Investigators wrapped up a mass excavation and property search last November.
The charges against Mr. Pickton so far are four more than the number admitted to by Canada's most notorious serial killer, Clifford Robert Olson.
Corporal Catherine Galliford of the Missing Women's Task Force would not confirm or deny Kendall's information.
Police scheduled a news conference for later in the afternoon.
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