Fun_People Archive
20 May
Mouse Heads - Did Anyone Actually Vomit?

Content-Type: text/plain
Mime-Version: 1.0 (NeXT Mail 3.3 v118.2)
From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Mon, 20 May 96 14:37:37 -0700
To: Fun_People
Subject: Mouse Heads - Did Anyone Actually Vomit?

Forwarded-by: Lani Herrmann <lanih@info.sims.berkeley.edu>
Forwarded-by: jmichael@sas.upenn.edu
Forwarded-by: Kristine Lynn Rabberman

	FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. March 22 (UPI) -- Deputies at the Broward
County jail system tried to find out Friday how the heads of two
baby mice got into the food of inmates at two different jails this month.
	They said they are looking at how the food is transported from a
central kitchen to the jails to see how someone could have put the heads
into vegetable dishes.
	Neither of the remains were eaten, but 59 inmates in one of the
jails were treated for upset stomachs after hearing news of the
find.
	The first incident occurred March 4 at the North Broward Jail when
a female inmate poking through a tray of food delivered by a trusty
discovered the head among some mixed vegetables.
	In the second incident March 17, an inmate at the main jail made a
similar discovery in a helping of green beans.
	``If they found the head that means we probably ate the rest of
him,'' inmate John Porter told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.
``People were (getting sick) all over the place.''
	Broward County Sheriff's spokesman Ott Cefkin said there was no
reason to believe anybody ate any mice, and although nausea was rampant,
nobody actually vomited.
	Pat Tighe, assistant Mainl Jail director said no animal parts were
found in any of the other 3,000 dinners nor were there any traces of
contamination in the large vats used to boil the vegetables.
	``It didn't appear to be cooked, so it looks like someone put it
there,'' Cefkin said.
	``Since we have two different locations and a 13-day interval, we're
trying to determine whether there is any movement of trusties from one
facility to another or whether anybody has been transferred who had access
to the food,'' Cefkin said.
	Some officials speculated an inmated put the heads in the food as
a joke.
``At this point that's a good possibility, but we don't know for
certain,'' Cefkin said.
	Food for the jails is provided by Trinity Services Group Inc., a
private firm that cooks meals at Broward Sheriff's Office kitchens. The food
is prepared by Trinity employees with assistance by inmates. The inmates
denied any wrongdoing.
	Trinity took the heads to a lab, and test results won't be available
for another 10 days, Cefkin said.
	``Some 4 million meals are served yearly at three BSO jail
facilities and with the jail's recent accreditation, its kitchen
facilities are held by inspectors to the highest standards,'' Cefkin said.

© 1996 Peter Langston