Travel bugs take bite out of tourists' health, safety: Inspectors finds roaches, E. coli on planes, trains and ships

May 1, 2006
Edmonton Journal
James Gordon

OTTAWA - Nearly 40 per cent of passenger trains subjected to Health Canada sanitation inspections last year were found to have violations that can pose human health risks if left uncorrected.

Hundreds of pages of inspection documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen reveal flight, train and ship kitchens and washrooms were regularly cited for "critical hazards," such as keeping food at dangerous temperatures and bug infestations.

Trains were tagged most often for serious infractions. Of 48 inspections last year, 18 identified various problems worthy of the "critical" designation -- meaning they have the potential to make people sick.

In one case, an inspector observed the cook on a VIA Rail route between Moncton, N.B., and Montreal not washing his hands and wearing a ring while preparing food.
Another VIA train travelling the Sudbury, Ont., to Toronto route barely passed its review after the inspector noted an overflowing toilet and improper disinfection in several dirty washrooms.

David Bennitz, a manager in the Public Health Bureau at Health Canada, was cited as saying in an interview any score below 85 per cent is considered a failing grade, and that while a failing score sounds bad, "it may not be that horrible as somebody may see. The reality is, most of these places are extremely well operated. We are really pushing them at a gold standard."

Many critical hazards were noted in the documents but didn't result in any point deductions. Others were docked four or five points each.

The story notes that one Cara kitchen at the Vancouver International Airport received a score of 98 points out of 100, despite the presence of insects in the kitchen and E. coli in the water.