You probably heard that the largest beef recall in U.S. history took place on Sunday – 143 pounds to be exact. The recall is happening because the meat has been deemed “unfit for human consumption”. Too bad most of the meat has already been consumed, according to the USDA Secretary in this story. That’s because the recall extends back two years. The primary customers of this beef are the Federal School Lunch Program and major fast food chains. The meat got the “unfit” rap for not getting proper health inspections post-mortem, which is a violation of the regulations.
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. There have been no reported illnesses linked to the beef at any of the schools.
“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.
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.
Filed under: food industry, food safety | Tagged: beef recall, USDA
Here’s an update on the USDA beef recall…
I heard on NPR today that one school district in Illinois had 14,000 pounds in its freezers the day the USDA announced the hold in late Jan. In addition, they had prepared burgers for lunch that day and had to pull them. They reverted to PB and J. They said about 8,000 kids would have eaten the beef. She said that it was stressful, but expressed understanding that we don’t live in a perfect world.
WSJ reports inquiries into USDA
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120328489778174403.html?mod=dist_smartbrief
[...] 21, 2008 by rebeccascritchfield On a media conference call today about the 143 million pounds of recalled beef the USDA said they were disappointed with how the Humane Society handled the exposure of The [...]