Bwana
Well-known member
I have a feeling this one is going to cause quite and uproar around this neck of the woods!
Mar 27, 2008 - 04:05:44 CDT
By KAREN HERZOG
Bismarck Tribune
Food pantries across the state have been asked not to use or distribute donated ground venison because of the potential for contamination with lead fragments, on the advice of the North Dakota Departments of Health, Game and Fish, and Agriculture.
The advisory was issued Wednesday after the Department of Health took five venison samples, testing for metal pieces, of which all five tested strongly positive for lead. This followed concerns raised earlier this year by Dr. William Cornatzer, a Bismarck physician, who collected packages of ground venison. X-rays detected the presence of metal in 53 packages out of nearly 100 tested, according to the advisory.
Lead can be harmful to both children and adults, but children 6 and younger and pregnant women are at greater risk, the advisory said. According to the Department of Health, people concerned about how their wild game was cleaned and processed should not serve it to children and may decide whether to eat it themselves.
Cornatzer, a deer hunter for 30 years and a board member of the Peregrine Fund, a conservation research group, said his concerns were raised after seeing an X-ray at a Peregrine Fund meeting of how high-velocity bullets fragment through the entire central aspect of a deer.
"As a physician, I nearly fell off my chair," he said. "I've been eating this all these years."
With the assistance of Bismarck radiologist Dr. Ted Fogarty, he decided to run a high-definition CT scan of 100 pounds of meat from several butchers picked at random.
"When the scan was done, Iabout fell over," Cornatzer said. Sixty percent of the 1-pound packages contained anywhere from three to 10 metal fragments, which the doctors assumed was lead, a suspicion confirmed by Health Department testing.
Butchers are not at fault, Cornatzer said. High-velocity bullets literally explode on impact, scattering microscopic bits throughout the deer, he said.
Forty percent of North Dakota's population hunts deer, and probably 70 percent consumes venison, so this is a terrible concern for humans, particularly children, pregnant women and women of child-bearing age, even the elderly, he said.
"This is a major, major threat to our health," he said. California has outlawed lead bullets in southern California for the benefit of the condor, he said: "This is much more serious than the condor. This is our kids."
Swallowing lead can cause health problems for young children, said Sandi Washek, lead program coordinator for the Department of Health.
"At this time, we do not know if lead particles in wild game are a significant health issue in North Dakota, but because of the seriousness of lead poisoning, especially for children and pregnant women, we are taking precautionary measures by recommending that food pantries not distribute the ground venison remaining in their possession," she said.
Much of the venison that was tested was donated to food pantries through the Sportsmen Against Hunger program administered by North Dakota Community Action, a program that serves low-income families across the state.
The Department of Agriculture sent a letter to all state- and federal-inspected meat processing plants in North Dakota informing them about the situation, and the Department of Health sent a letter to food pantries with recommendations for disposing of the meat.
Ann Pollard of Community Action in Fargo coordinates the Sportsmen Against Hunger program in the state.
North Dakota has approximately 45 food pantries, which are being asked to gather what ground venison they have left as a precaution, she said.
Pollard said that staff members are in the process of gathering information about the amounts of venison that were distributed this year, but that since the sportsmen's program started in 2004, the number of donated deer has risen from 115 the first year to 381 in 2007.
Julie Huwe, soup kitchen coordinator for Ruth Meiers Hospitality House in Bismarck, said the facility hasn't received venison for quite some time; the half box it has remaining will be thrown away, she said.
Aid Inc. of Bismarck had received only 100 pounds of venison through the program and has been out since Christmas, said Roxann Polzin, client services coordinator.
Washek said that the department appreciates the generosity of processors and hunters and encourages them to continue to participate in the program: "By working together, we can help protect our children ... and still provide a valuable donation to the food pantries in North Dakota," she said.
The Health Department said it plans additional studies on lead in wild game and lead levels in children, and the three departments are working on guidelines on the proper cleaning and dressing of wild game to reduce the chances of lead in meat.
Those guidelines should be ready by next hunting season, said Dr. Andrea Grondahl, director of the Department of Agriculture's State Meat and Poultry Inspection Program.
Mar 27, 2008 - 04:05:44 CDT
By KAREN HERZOG
Bismarck Tribune
Food pantries across the state have been asked not to use or distribute donated ground venison because of the potential for contamination with lead fragments, on the advice of the North Dakota Departments of Health, Game and Fish, and Agriculture.
The advisory was issued Wednesday after the Department of Health took five venison samples, testing for metal pieces, of which all five tested strongly positive for lead. This followed concerns raised earlier this year by Dr. William Cornatzer, a Bismarck physician, who collected packages of ground venison. X-rays detected the presence of metal in 53 packages out of nearly 100 tested, according to the advisory.
Lead can be harmful to both children and adults, but children 6 and younger and pregnant women are at greater risk, the advisory said. According to the Department of Health, people concerned about how their wild game was cleaned and processed should not serve it to children and may decide whether to eat it themselves.
Cornatzer, a deer hunter for 30 years and a board member of the Peregrine Fund, a conservation research group, said his concerns were raised after seeing an X-ray at a Peregrine Fund meeting of how high-velocity bullets fragment through the entire central aspect of a deer.
"As a physician, I nearly fell off my chair," he said. "I've been eating this all these years."
With the assistance of Bismarck radiologist Dr. Ted Fogarty, he decided to run a high-definition CT scan of 100 pounds of meat from several butchers picked at random.
"When the scan was done, Iabout fell over," Cornatzer said. Sixty percent of the 1-pound packages contained anywhere from three to 10 metal fragments, which the doctors assumed was lead, a suspicion confirmed by Health Department testing.
Butchers are not at fault, Cornatzer said. High-velocity bullets literally explode on impact, scattering microscopic bits throughout the deer, he said.
Forty percent of North Dakota's population hunts deer, and probably 70 percent consumes venison, so this is a terrible concern for humans, particularly children, pregnant women and women of child-bearing age, even the elderly, he said.
"This is a major, major threat to our health," he said. California has outlawed lead bullets in southern California for the benefit of the condor, he said: "This is much more serious than the condor. This is our kids."
Swallowing lead can cause health problems for young children, said Sandi Washek, lead program coordinator for the Department of Health.
"At this time, we do not know if lead particles in wild game are a significant health issue in North Dakota, but because of the seriousness of lead poisoning, especially for children and pregnant women, we are taking precautionary measures by recommending that food pantries not distribute the ground venison remaining in their possession," she said.
Much of the venison that was tested was donated to food pantries through the Sportsmen Against Hunger program administered by North Dakota Community Action, a program that serves low-income families across the state.
The Department of Agriculture sent a letter to all state- and federal-inspected meat processing plants in North Dakota informing them about the situation, and the Department of Health sent a letter to food pantries with recommendations for disposing of the meat.
Ann Pollard of Community Action in Fargo coordinates the Sportsmen Against Hunger program in the state.
North Dakota has approximately 45 food pantries, which are being asked to gather what ground venison they have left as a precaution, she said.
Pollard said that staff members are in the process of gathering information about the amounts of venison that were distributed this year, but that since the sportsmen's program started in 2004, the number of donated deer has risen from 115 the first year to 381 in 2007.
Julie Huwe, soup kitchen coordinator for Ruth Meiers Hospitality House in Bismarck, said the facility hasn't received venison for quite some time; the half box it has remaining will be thrown away, she said.
Aid Inc. of Bismarck had received only 100 pounds of venison through the program and has been out since Christmas, said Roxann Polzin, client services coordinator.
Washek said that the department appreciates the generosity of processors and hunters and encourages them to continue to participate in the program: "By working together, we can help protect our children ... and still provide a valuable donation to the food pantries in North Dakota," she said.
The Health Department said it plans additional studies on lead in wild game and lead levels in children, and the three departments are working on guidelines on the proper cleaning and dressing of wild game to reduce the chances of lead in meat.
Those guidelines should be ready by next hunting season, said Dr. Andrea Grondahl, director of the Department of Agriculture's State Meat and Poultry Inspection Program.
