The largest recall in U.S. history, over 143 million pounds of beef, was announced yesterday, February 17, 2008 as a result of an investigation into Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company, a Chino, California, establishment.
Federal officials suspended operations after the release of a video produced the the Humane Society of the United States in which workers used forklifts, cattle prods, and water hoses in an attempt to get animals too weak, sick or crippled to stand up for inspection. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) regulations prohibit non-ambulatory disabled (“downer”) cattle from entering the food supply.
Some of the Westland Meat Company branded products were purchased for Federal food and nutrition programs including the National School Lunch Program, the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Food Assistance Program on Indian Reservations. Because the products included in the recall were produced between Feb. 1, 2006 to Feb. 2, 2008, most of the meat has probably already been eaten.
The recall is designated as Class II due to the remote probability that the beef being recalled would cause adverse health effects if consumed. There have been no incidents of illness as a result of consuming the beef.
The USDA has initiated a series of warranty actions against Westland to recover Federal food and nutrition program costs and costs associated with the recall. Additionally, USDA will terminate existing contracts with Westland, which will free up monies for purchasing products from eligible suppliers.
The San Bernardino District Attorney filed felony animal cruelty charges on February 15 against two employees who were terminated. No additional charges have been filed but the investigation continues.
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Animal Cruelty Charges - USDA statement
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Huge Beef Recall Stems from Calif. Plant - News article
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View videos on the Humane Society Web site (Graphic footage)
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Welcome to Verda Vivo. My name is Daryl Warner Laux.
Wow. I am very jaded but what cruelties people will commit in the pursuit of a crooked dollar never ceases to amaze me.
Raincoaster – Very sad but true.
I work at a food distribution center and I was telling my co workers about this recall, only one other person heard something about it and she was insisting that the recall was only school beef. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and think get your facts straight before you open your mouth. One of my co workers took the initiative of calling our quality assurance dept just to make sure we if we need to take any action. I was just very surprised that these people had little to no information about the biggest recall on beef in history.
Haley – Good job on notifying your work about the beef recall. I know you are doing your best to be vegan – kudos to you! It’s not easy being “different” from the crowd.
I saw the video of the downer cattle. Looks like they had mad cow disease.
Keith – Even if downer cattle don’t have mad cow disease, the fact that they are laying down or being dragged through cow manure in the pens means there is a greater risk of E.coli being introduced into the beef during slaughter.