Dr. David Butler-Jones (right, exactly as shown), the chief public health thingy for Canada who hasn’t been heard from since his embarrassing statements about how listeria in deli meats that killed 20 Canadians last fall was due to poor handwashing , has apparently spent the past 7 months devising a game for school kids.

Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, today launched an educational program designed to help students learn about food borne illnesses, how they’re caused and how to prevent the risk of infection.

It’s foodborne, not food borne. Butler-Jones insists repeatedly the bulk of foodborne illness happens at home, and says the game is innovative but provides no assessment by the targert audience.

“Creating healthy habits and practicing safe food handling starts at an early age. These students are learning an important lesson about the causes of food contamination and how to protect themselves and their families against infectious disease. This initiative shows how collaboration between the federal and provincial governments, health experts and educators can lead to the creation of innovative public health tools and resources that contribute to better health for Canadians and for our communities.”

This initiative shows nothing except how tax dollars can be wasted.

Oh, and Health Canada came out today with so-called fact sheets on how to safely handle fresh produce, and emphasize repeatedly that “fresh fruits and vegetables do not naturally contain microorganisms … that can make you sick.”

No idea where that statement came from. Other than pressure from the fresh fruit and vegetable growers in Canada. That’s how government and public pronouncements roll north of the 49th parallel.