This is a scary story from CP...

Canadian researchers have found antibiotic-resistant Staph bacteria in pork products purchased in retail stores across the country – a discovery that raises questions about how the contamination occurred, how frequently it happens and whether it has implications for human health.

Just under 10 per cent of sampled pork chops and ground pork recently purchased in four provinces tested positive for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, lead researcher Dr. Scott Weese reported Wednesday in a presentation to the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta.

The bacteria would be destroyed by proper cooking, so Staph food poisoning is not a major concern, said Weese, an expert on zoonoses, the pathogens that pass back and forth between people and animals.

But he wondered whether people handling meat with MRSA on its surface would end up inadvertently "colonizing" themselves. People who carry the bacteria on their skin or in their nostrils are at greater risk of going on to develop a Staph infection, which can range from a hard-to-heal boil to pneumonia to a potentially deadly bloodstream infection.

"My main concern is: if there's MRSA on the surface of a pork chop and someone's handling it and then they touch their nose, could they transmit it from the pork chop to their nose?" noted Weese, a veterinarian based at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph.

"If they do what they're supposed to do in terms of meat handling, then it should be perfectly safe. But do people do that is the question?"

Bryant Terry, Oakland-based eco chef, a Food and Society Policy Fellow with the W. K. Kellogg and Fair Food foundations and co-author of 'Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen.'

Here's chef Terry's spring menu celebrating resurrection, revival and rejuvenation on The Root.com

"This is a brunch for everyone, whether you observe Easter or not. Think of it as a culinary commemoration of spring, one that celebrates rebirth, resurrection, revival, and rejuvenation in its many iterations.

These recipes are my spring gift to you and yours. You'll notice I've given this menu a creole twist. It is an ode to a city that I love —New Orleans— as well as a prayer for its continued rejuvenation.

I'll be spacing the recipes out throughout the week, to give you time to think and plan. But to whet your appetite, here's what's coming up.

Rebirth Brunch

Agave-Sweetened Double Orange Pekoe Tea

Watercress Salad with Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette

Johnny Blaze Cakes

Cajun-Creole-Spiced Asparagus Frittata

Hopin' Jean

Potato and Sweet Potato Pancakes

Maple-Coated Pecans

Soundtrack

New Orleans Suite, Duke Ellington

Alone Together, Clifford Brown & Max Roach

Requiem, Branford Marsalis Quartet

Resurrection, Common

Ultimate Rebirth Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band

Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge), Jay Electronica