USDA orders largest beef recall ever

Over the weekend, the USDA ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., a California slaughterhouse that provided meat to school lunch programs, reports Associated Press. Federal officials suspended operations at Westland/Hallmark after an undercover Humane Society video surfaced showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts. Officials said it was the largest beef recall in the U.S. surpassing a 1999 ban of 35 million pounds of ready-to-eat meats. No illnesses have been linked to the newly recalled meat, which was sent to distribution centers in bulk packages, and officials said the health threat was likely small. Hallmark meat was not available to consumers through retail grocery or meat markets, but was sold wholesale to food companies that used it to make ground beef and products such as burrito filling, meatballs and sausage. But the most troubling fact is that about 37 million pounds of the recalled beef went to school programs, and officials believe most of the meat probably has already been eaten. On Thursday, federal lawmakers called for the Government Accountability Office to investigate the safety of meat in the National School Lunch Program, and some 150 school districts around the nation have stopped using ground beef from Hallmark Meat Packing Co., which is associated with Westland. 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?" Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union,  said it best. "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. It's really closing the barn door after the cows left." USDA Statement