LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17, 2008
U.S. Orders Largest Ever Beef Recall
California Meat Company Cited For Animal Abuse Hit With Recall Of 143 Million Pounds Of Beef
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A worker throws a piece of meat among cattle carcass scraps dropped into a truck at the Hallmark Meat Packing slaughterhouse in Chino, Calif. in this Jan. 30, 2008 file photo. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled 143 million pounds of frozen beef from from Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. a Southern California slaughterhouse that is being investigated for mistreating cattle. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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Undercover video shows sickened cows, too weak to walk, being jabbed with forklift blades, kicked, shocked and even sprayed in the face with powerful jets of water by workers at the Hallmark Meat Packing Company in Chino, California. (CBS/The Humane Society)
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Abuse At Calif. Slaughterhouse
The Agriculture Department has said it will investigate animal abuse at a California slaughterhouse. It was prompted by undercover video shot by the Humane Society. Nancy Cordes reports.
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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.
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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.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.
Dr. Dick Raymond, USDAAuthorities 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."
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 78 CommentsMake these bustwards give back all that money...then put their corrupt arses out of business! Black list them from being able to accept any more government money!
They are obviously crooks who can''t run their business properly! Get rid of ''em!!!
Keep letting the illegals into the country, and we''re only going to see more and more of this type of activity.
A quick check by myself shows that the budget of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the USDA has been slashed 30% over the last few years. Anyone surprised? Can anyone figure out why? Maybe to pay for the Iraq War?
This is exactly my reaction when I''ve watched these types of video. Another one that is similar and totally appalling is one on how the chickens are abused in a W. Virginia slaughterhouse that supplies for KFC. The workers seem to almost enjoy stomping on birds that are not dead, though already plucked and thrown against a wall. I cannot imagine having one of those men come home after work to me. I''d fear for myself and my children. What kind of psychological make-up must these people have?
DlCK CHENEY said this week, forklift prodding was in fact authorized for use on three cows - Cloey, Sandra and Hefer - because of widespread belief among U.S. intelligence officials that catastrophic outbreaks of Mad Cow Disease were imminent. ''I would use these techniques again if necessary - it''s a no-brainer!''
DlCK CHENEY
CBS, please replace that terrible picture with something less difficult to look at!
And that''s due to the inadequately funded education system, of course. :)
As for the guy who said they are only Cows, I''d love to shove my forks up your azz, you creep.
Posted by barbaraf4
Pssst... DON''T LOOK AT IT YOU GOOF! God! I bet you are one of these people who blame media for what you choose to view!
I buy my meat from a farmer who lives 5 miles from me who raises them organically. I''ve known them for over 30 years. They test their water every year. They raise their own feed. They use their own seed. Me and mine will be all right. How many of you can say the same?
Something tells me that you are one of those Neanderthals that gets really upset about the GEICO commercials.
Posted by pet713
So what do you do if you find a spider, roach or ant in your house? Do you constantly watch were you walk in order to not step on any creatures? If you do I have a nuber for you. This number is for someone who can help you in your current mental state.
I think yours is the way to go if one is going to eat meat. The massive in and out slaughter houses are a mess. Small farmers are still around and one can get the animal butchered in a humane manner. At least if you eat kosher you know that animal was not brutalized.
Posted by pet713
Tee-hee-hee!!!!!! You sweet talker! Muahhh!! Kiss Kiss mental case!
Posted by pet713
So what do you do if you find a spider, roach or ant in your house? Do you constantly watch were you walk in order to not step on any creatures? If you do I have a nuber for you. This number is for someone who can help you in your current mental state.
Posted by trenticus at 09:12 PM : Feb 17, 2008
Unlike you, I don''t have roaches in my house! But if I find a spider I put it outside. If my cat catches a mouse. I take it away from my cat and let it go. Don''t try to pull that *** on me. I have respect for other creatures. You will get yours in your cursed life! Enough said! You spinless, inhumane thing.
No one, absolutely no one, can present a coherent argument as to how aborting human beings on demand is not worse, infinitely worse, than spraying water in a sick bovine''s face.
No one. Not even you, my disagreeing friend.
Our nation has lost its ever-loving mind.
Sembrader"
How is abortion of a mass of tissue and bone that never saw the light of day worse? If you can remember your 9 month stint in the womb then you have a point, but since you and no one else can, then the fetus knows and remembers nothing, and in the case of abortion- never saw the light of day or experienced anything while alive.
We have too many mouths to feed on this planet as it is, its BECAUSE of that that these cows even need to be mass produced in the first place to provide the food!
Abortion takes care of the little unwanted ''problem'' for the parents who obviously DONT want the thing, so why would anyone in their right mind FORCE unwed, unprepared, immature, unwilling people to allow an unwanted burden of an accidental pregnancy to come to term, where the kid will either be abandoned or grow up in a broken home raised by parents who never wated it and resent it, and then dump the thing on US to raise???
Abortion on demand should ALWAYS be legal, and unless you are willing to stand by a clinic and physically adopt and pay for EVERY baby, then SHUT UP and let people make their own decisions on what they do with THEIR bodies.
They will mistreat animals and their workers and the country itself, because at the heart of it all they are greedy scum looking to max out profits any way they can. I quit eating red meat for that very reason a number of years ago.
Who cares about this krapp? Get a life! Go somewhere else you dummy. Truth be told, you are an idiot.
It''s pretty hard to miss when it''s the lead picture. It doesn''t matter now, because CBS listened!
In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt created a commission to inspect the conditions in meat packing houses after reading ''The Jungle'' by Upton Sinclair. The federal Meat Inspection Act became law and reformed the meat industry. Up to that point, only foreign meat sources would require inspection, while domestic meat went to market, contaminated and unchecked.
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