U.S. Orders Largest Ever Beef Recall

California Meat Company Cited For Animal Abuse Hit With Recall Of 143 Million Pounds Of Beef

(CBS/AP)  The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a California slaughterhouse, the subject of an animal-abuse investigation, that provided meat to school lunch programs.

Officials said it was the largest beef recall in the United States, surpassing a 1999 ban of 35 million pounds of ready-to-eat meats. No illnesses have been linked to the newly recalled meat, and officials said the health threat was likely small.

The recall will affect beef products dating to Feb. 1, 2006, that came from Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., the federal agency said.

About 30 school systems across Tennessee already had been asked to hold off on serving the meat.

CBS News consumer safety correspondent Nancy Cordes first reported on Westland/Hallmark's use of sick, or "downer" cows, on a January broadcast of the CBS Evening News.

Cordes reported that meat-industry officials said at the time that there was no way to know if the cows actually entered the meat supply and that ailing livestock would have had to pass a gauntlet of USDA veterinarians and inspectors before being slaughtered and sent to market.

But Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer now says his department has evidence that Westland did not routinely contact its veterinarian when cattle became non-ambulatory after passing inspection, violating health regulations.

"Because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection, Food Safety and Inspection Service has determined them to be unfit for human food and the company is conducting a recall," Schafer said in a statement.

A phone message left for Westland president Steve Mendell was not immediately returned.

Federal officials suspended operations at Westland/Hallmark after an undercover video from the Humane Society of the United States surfaced showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts.

Two former employees were charged Friday. Five felony counts of animal cruelty and three misdemeanors were filed against a pen manager. Three misdemeanor counts - illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal - were filed against an employee who worked under that manager. Both were fired.

Authorities said the video showed workers kicking, shocking and otherwise abusing "downer" animals that were apparently too sick or injured to walk into the slaughterhouse. Some animals had water forced down their throats, San Bernardino County prosecutor Michael Ramos said.

No charges have been filed against Westland, but an investigation by federal authorities continues.

Officials estimate that about 37 million pounds of the recalled beef went to school programs, but they believe most of the meat probably has already been eaten.

"We don't know how much product is out there right now. We don't think there is a health hazard, but we do have to take this action," said Dr. Dick Raymond, USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety.

Most of the beef was sent to distribution centers in bulk packages. The USDA said it will work with distributors to determine how much meat remains.

Tennessee Agriculture Department spokesman Tom Womack said Friday that state school systems have identified 224 cases of raw ground beef that haven't been used. Each case contains about 40 pounds of meat, he said.

The school systems that still had the meat were mostly in West and East Tennessee, including Shelby County schools, he said.

Womack said that over the past two school years, about 120,000 pounds of raw ground beef from the company has been distributed in Tennessee.

"We don't know how much was consumed or thrown out," Womack said.

Officials are not yet sure how much of the company's processed meat products, which includes items like hamburger patties, are in the schools.

"We're still trying to figure that out," Womack said.

Womack estimated that 294,000 pounds of the processed meat product could have been distributed over the last two school years.

But Womack said that the commodity program makes up only a fraction of food served in the school lunch program.

"USDA surplus commodities only make up about 20 percent of the lunch plate," Womack said. "A relatively small amount of the school lunch plate could be affected by this."

Federal regulations call for keeping downed cattle out of the food supply because they may pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease because they typically wallow in feces and their immune systems are often weak.

About 150 school districts around the nation have stopped using ground beef from Hallmark Meat Packing Co., which is associated with Westland. Two fast-food chains, Jack-In-the-Box and In-N-Out, said they would not use beef from Westland/Hallmark.

Jack in the Box, a San Diego-based company with restaurants in 18 states, told its meat suppliers not to use Hallmark until further notice, but it was unclear whether it had used any Hallmark meat. In-N-Out, an Irvine-based chain, also halted use of the Westland/Hallmark beef. Other chains such as McDonald's and Burger King said they do not buy beef from Westland.

Raymond countered a claim leveled by Humane Society President and CEO Wayne Pacelle, who said a USDA inspector was at the Westland plant for about two hours each day. USDA inspectors are there at slaughterhouses "continuously," Raymond said.

Federal lawmakers on Thursday had called for the Government Accountability Office to investigate the safety of meat in the National School Lunch Program.

Upon learning about the recall, some legislators criticized the USDA, saying the federal agency should conduct more thorough inspections to ensure tainted beef doesn't get to the public.

"Today marks the largest beef recall in U.S. history, and it involves the national school lunch program and other federal food and nutrition programs," said U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. "This begs the question: how much longer will we continue to test our luck with weak enforcement of federal food safety regulations?"

Advocacy groups also weighed in, noting the problems at Westland wouldn't have been revealed had it not been for animal right activists.

"On the one hand, I'm glad that the recall is taking place. On the other, it's somewhat disturbing, given that obviously much of this food has already been eaten," said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union. "It's really closing the barn door after the cows left."

[joyous88]

jowand

but listen friend, people do eat this stuff, people do eat it, it has to be safe,

do you think a school kid getting a school luinch has much choice or control over what they get to eat.

that why we need a government that cares about people
not profit

[joyous88]

the conservative government in action, remember Katrina, ; most of this beef has already been eaten by school kids everywhere,

thank bush and the greed driven republicons for this latest case of food poisoning.

billions for their war profiteer republican friends
like blackwater, but not a penny to protect the food supple or for veterans or disabled,

while the bush family spent generration after generation at the government trough ,parasites

[luvcomments]

Every few years, there''s a huge coverage of the unspeakable horrors inflicted on these helpless and hopeless animals with no-one to protect them other than a few laws that are eternally ignored. And we react as though this is news. Until we enforce massive penalties upon these companies for such cruelty, in addition to penalties for the risk to those who eat the meat, nothing will change. Business as usual, the people will forget about it because they have to make their refrigerator payments, and the pockets will continue to be lined from the unspeakable suffering. Makes one ashamed to be a human being.

[jowand]

Could this be a test run for terrorism? Do middle-easterners own this company? What a waste of thousands of cattle. Do they hire illegals? The whole thing stinks. Does anyone really care what the free school lunch programs give the poor kids? I''''d close this place down and jail the owners in a heartbeat.
Posted by drivelphobe at 09:16 AM : Feb 18, 2008

Your post is the reason why people like you are eliminated from trial jury pools as much as is possible.

[drivelphobe]

Could this be a test run for terrorism? Do middle-easterners own this company? What a waste of thousands of cattle. Do they hire illegals? The whole thing stinks. Does anyone really care what the free school lunch programs give the poor kids? I''d close this place down and jail the owners in a heartbeat.

[jetlizhan]

for what this slaugherhouse did to those poor pitiful cattle, i hope they go bankrupt in a ny minute and are wiped out completely. serves them right!!!

[trenticus-2009]

It''''s pretty hard to miss when it''''s the lead picture. It doesn''''t matter now, because CBS listened!

Posted by barbaraf4

LOL! You keep thinking you are special sweety... The media MUST rotate photo''s to keep people like you interested.

[forthepeopl1]

please someone tell me how many people have been sick or even worse by this and nobody has done nothing.

how many kids are affacted in the brain or worse.

this goverment has to be put in check..........

[slim1h2o]

What cannot sell beef that is saturuated with Tequilla?

Posted by radiob at 08:10 AM : Feb 18, 2008

LOL ,,Only if it meats(spelling intentional) the minimal Dietary needs of alcohlics.

Morning Radiob

[radiob-2009]

What cannot sell beef that is saturuated with Tequilla?

[slim1h2o]

Posted by poopusbuttus at 07:13 AM : Feb 18, 2008

Sorry if you think I''m being insensitive, just pointing out the obvious.

I know,,to some people,,the truth hurts.

[it_oldtimer]

The video was truly disturbing and downright sickening - NO animal deserves to be treated with such wanton cruelty, regardless of it''s eventual fate.

Most of the employees at any given meat packing plant (regardless of the type of animal being "processed" there) are illegal immigrants - and the rest are usually prison parolee''s and felons who can''t get any other kind of work. Basic decency towards animals does not seem to be a very common trait in either case, apparently.

I hope this recall totally bankrupts this company - and any others like it.

It really is enough to make one =seriously= consider going totally meat-free. My heart would surely thank me, and I''ll definitely sleep better at night as well, after seeing this.

[slim1h2o]

Why do all these recalls come from California? Is it because it''''s a liberal state with lax safety policies?

Posted by poopusbuttus at 06:56 AM : Feb 18, 2008

Meat recalls, are coming from other states as well. States such as MI,, WI,,and NJ.

But the thing I noticed,,was that all the people involved in the slaughtering process, had Hispanic names. Coincidence? I doubt it!

[poopusbuttus]

Why do all these recalls come from California? Is it because it''s a liberal state with lax safety policies?

[alphaa10-2009]

Troll Alert-- 4
McCain--
Here is a news article on John McCain at abcnews.com, detailing his "offenses" against the Bush GOP--
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/02/limbaugh-mccain.html
Any fact check will show McCain is more conservative, according to the Heritage Foundation, than Bush. However, McCain votes as he views the issue, not as Bush does (does this make Bush less conservative / more "liberal"?).

Clinton--
Here at Snopes.com is the best means to track down pesky urban legends about Hillary--
(from a search with the term "Hillary"
http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=hillary&getit=Go&sp-a=00062d45-sp00000000&sp-advanced=1&sp-p=all&sp-w-control=1&sp-w=alike&sp-date-range=-1&sp-x=any&sp-c=100&sp-m=1&sp-s=0

[erasmus6]

"Is this forum not moderated? These posts are totally irrevelant to this discussion!!!" posted by yoyo1198

Hahaha, you obviously don''t post much, eh?

There isn''t any article that I have seen yet where people have stuck to what the topic is about.

[yoyo1198]

Is this forum not moderated? These posts are totally irrevelant to this discussion!!!

[brianbwb-2009]

"Pork is looking pretty good these days." Posted by shanev137

You haven''t seen how pork is raised and processed, that is even worse.

This is a symptom of the attitude that profit is worth more than life, and as long as the country''s leaders continue to promote this type of thinking, no food is safe.

[shanev137]

Pork is looking pretty good these days.

[watcher269-2009]

This is what eight years of the Bush Administration''s policy of re-shaping regulatory agencies to meet the requirements of its corporate masters has given us; mostly minimal government oversight, and increased risk of harm to ordinary citizens.


ARE YOU PROUD OF YOUR PRESIDENT - REPUGILCANS?