Photo by Vince Fedoroff
CONTAMINATED PRODUCTS RECALLED – An RCMP investigation has begun after some consumers of beef products from Off the Hook Meatworks, located on Hanson Street, became ill.
RCMP investigating contaminated beef products
Yukon residents may have a beef with this information.
Yukon residents may have a beef with this information.
Anyone who may have purchased beef or bison jerky, produced by a local business, Off the Hook Meatworks, is being advised to avoid eating any of these products, the RCMP and the Yukon government said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
Environmental health services officials have issued a recall notice for these products, which have possibly been contaminated with a foreign material that may be a health hazard.
The RCMP are investigating following complaints from several individuals who consumed the product and who felt a variety of physical and mental effects.
The symptoms included a feeling of being sick/nauseous; numbness; stumbling/difficulty walking; high heart rate; dizziness.
Several of the people who were assessed at Whitehorse General Hospital had traces of THC, the psychoactive ingredient for cannabis, found in their systems through medical tests.
The product has been removed from local store shelves.
No one was on the premises of Off the Hook Meatworks, located on Hanson Street, on Thursday.
No one from the business responded to the Star’s email and telephone inquiries on Thursday.
If you have the product in your home, follow these steps recommended by the government:
• Don’t eat any of the food.
• Get medical attention right away if anyone who has had contact with the food feels unusual symptoms or sickness.
• Don’t handle the food more than you need to.
• Carefully place all the food in a sealable container (even if it’s half-eaten). Close the container. Write “DO NOT EAT” on the container.
• Keep any unopened containers of similar product, but do not open them.
• Keep the food away from your regular food supply and away from your family.
• Don’t feed the food to pets or livestock.
• Keep the container, packaging, label, receipt and grocery bag that came with the food.
• Write down any information you remember about the product, such as product codes, “best before” dates, where and when the product was purchased.
• If you suspect you have eaten beef or bison jerky products from Off the Hook in the last two weeks and have felt unwell, please contact the RCMP at 667-5555 or Yukon Environmental Health at 667-8390.
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Comments (23)
Up 0 Down 2
Bill on Dec 26, 2022 at 6:37 am
This sounds very suspicious. I'm wagering the teenager of that family was the first one to blame the meat after his spiking of the juice went horribly wrong.
It's really hard to believe a business would do this. Not out of the question but highly doubtful. A family member little brat teen dumping THC oil into the food is far more likely.
Up 0 Down 2
James on Mar 15, 2021 at 5:03 pm
Sounds like a witch hunt to discredit yet another small business. I will continue to support off the hook.
Where's the proof that it wasn't in another food item the family ate? Off the hook is awesome.
Up 1 Down 0
SAM on Jan 6, 2021 at 3:58 pm
We are missing the bigger picture ...yes it was only THC but it could have been many other things. I wonder about the inspection process or lack there of.
Up 17 Down 4
Sarah on Jan 6, 2021 at 8:26 am
Seriously people. They have absolutely not given all the details, and you are all pretty quick to say it wasn't from the jerky.
Entire families ended up in the hospital. Little kids included. I know this. Friends of mine ended up sick.
This isn't a "smoked a fattie and got the munchies" scenario. Maybe the shop mixed a personal batch with a sales batch - regardless of what happened, SOMETHING happened and kids got sick. Imagine your entire family getting super messed up, not having taken drugs. You'd head for the hospital too.
I am sorry for this business and hope it survives - they do have some of the best jerky in the world. But it's still serious.
Up 8 Down 2
Nathan Living on Jan 5, 2021 at 7:09 pm
Can someone post something if this company makes caribou smokies with THC, they are likely yummy.
Up 12 Down 1
TheHammer on Jan 5, 2021 at 1:57 pm
Children eat beef jerky. So do ravens, foxes, and dogs. My dog once ate someone's bag of pot, left lying on the floor. The dog passed out. The pot owner freaked out.
Up 8 Down 8
Groucho d'North on Jan 5, 2021 at 11:41 am
I'd be interested in knowing who made the diagnosis as it has been reported. THC in a patient's bloodstream has not been a novel concept since a couple October 17ths ago. But it sure is fun to jump to conclusions isn't it?
Let's wait for the official data to come back before this business is further discredited. Perhaps the government dope is contaminated which is the real cause of the problem?
Up 20 Down 4
moose101 on Jan 4, 2021 at 5:34 pm
We are judging Off the Hook before we have got back any test results from the so called contaminated jerky. If they can do a blood test in one day that says you have THC in your system, I presume it doesn't take much longer to test a few pieces of jerky ???
Up 28 Down 7
Mark on Jan 4, 2021 at 4:48 pm
Some people think it’s funny but it is far from that. Yes the Yukon is full of potheads, but there are some of us that had we ate it and failed a drug test costing us our jobs, I personally guarantee a lawsuit would soon follow.
Up 16 Down 15
Martin on Jan 4, 2021 at 4:07 pm
@Moose101 : If 75% of the people work for governments and 50% use cannabis, no wonder we don't get good service.
Up 14 Down 18
Dentist on Jan 4, 2021 at 3:54 pm
So maybe he had a batch made up to give to his friends for Christmas and it accidentally got put on the for sale shelf. Forgive and forget I say. He has lost more business than he deserved to with the media crawling all over it.
Up 9 Down 15
Woodcutter on Jan 4, 2021 at 12:02 am
Lol...the symptoms are attributable to most illnesses, from the flu to the dose. Even the covid has similar symptoms.
Up 16 Down 12
Jason --- on Jan 3, 2021 at 2:53 pm
We have a public health dept that responds to a global virus 7 months after it started; I wouldn't give them that much credit.
Tell me how this is different than a case of food poisioning?
https://www.livestrong.com/article/527347-can-i-get-sick-from-eating-bad-meat-even-after-cooking-it/
Up 39 Down 4
Beefcake on Jan 3, 2021 at 12:45 pm
@drum
I've never been but will be stopping by for a visit as a result of this article as I've never heard of them. When mistakes like this happen, owners with integrity will go to great lengths to make sure that they don't happen again. I think it's important to give people the opportunity to save face, because when you grant them the opportunity, the good ones will pay to pay back the favor. Anything could have happened, we don't know all the details. Judgement against them as a business should be reserved until we get more details about the source of the problem, as it could have been the work of a new hire, a disgruntled employee etc. Heck, I got food poisoning from Subway but still go on occasion, despite the fact the price has more or less tripled since the days of the $5 footlong, but I digress. Full disclosure by the business and an honest apology is probably the best PR move for them at the moment.
Up 45 Down 8
Jason on Jan 1, 2021 at 5:45 pm
People on here saying that they are users outside of this incident, don't you think the people looking into this ruled out that possibility before issuing a public health warning?
Up 22 Down 25
there is nothing that links 1 to the other on Jan 1, 2021 at 11:37 am
a) persons have THC in system
b) persons are sick
c) they all ate jerky
So do we also know that they didn't season the jerky with desiccant?
Maybe the meat spoiled, maybe the buffalo was sick.
There is nothing that says THC was found in the jerky. If there was then just say it.
Up 22 Down 32
Olav on Dec 31, 2020 at 8:41 pm
I do not see where they say they have found THC in the product.
I agree..bad case of munchies after smokin’ a big one.
Up 52 Down 33
drum on Dec 31, 2020 at 4:14 pm
Throw another local business under the bus without concrete evidence. I buy all my meat at Off The Hook and have done for many years - wonderful meat products. I will continue to support them.
Up 50 Down 7
bob on Dec 31, 2020 at 3:32 pm
Sorry Mathew I do not see it as having been thrown under the bus more like stepped in front of it
Up 34 Down 51
swill on Dec 31, 2020 at 3:28 pm
With attention to detail like that makes me wonder what else gets mixed in with his "products". Thankfully I never set foot in his establishment and never will.
Up 41 Down 33
Moose101 on Dec 31, 2020 at 3:26 pm
This is BS half the people in Whitehorse use cannabis and have traces in their blood and why if your not feeling well do you contact the RCMP you go to the hospital ??? How did the RCMP get involved ? Not all information is being released.
Up 41 Down 8
Anie on Dec 31, 2020 at 2:54 pm
After you've done everything on the exhaustive list, what then? Do you keep it forever? Bequeath it in your will?
Up 43 Down 81
Matthew on Dec 31, 2020 at 1:39 pm
LOL! Well, most likely they got really high from chemical laced gov weed, had the munchies and pigged out on jerky! That statement explains this article so no need to worry.. might as well throw some more struggling businesses under the bus right?