Largest Beef Recall Feeds Broward Students Chicken And Fish

Published February 28th, 2008

By Nicol Jenkins
Editor

Coral Springs teen Sabrina Goodwin is proud to be a vegetarian.

That choice is even more celebratory now that the USDA has announced the largest beef recall in U.S. History.

“I’m a vegetarian, but if I wasn’t I’d stay away from the school lunch meat knowing it’s unregulated. It’s unsettling to think kids are being fed unapproved meat,” said Goodwin, a student at J. P. Taravella High School in Coral Springs.

The beef recall took a total of 143 million pounds off the shelves and of those 37 million pounds from the School Lunch Program, according to USDA reports.

Broward County including Coral Springs and Parkland schools have pulled all beef products from the California-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Company out of its cafeterias. However, beef products from other sources are back on the shelves.

The recall came about when U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) found evidence that Hallmark/Westland did not consistently contact the FSIS public health veterinarian in situations in which cattle became non-ambulatory after passing ante-mortem inspection, which is not compliant with FSIS regulations.

Because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection FSIS has determined them to be unfit for human food and the company is conducting a recall, according to USDA reports.

The Broward County School District is following all USDA guidelines. Broward School District officials identified the locations of all beef products from the California-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Company. The District has followed all USDA directives regarding the beef products. The initial directive required organizations to hold and not use the beef products.

The current notice requires all beef products obtained from the company to be returned to the processor. The District is currently in the process of complying with this latest directive.

The District is currently using beef, chicken and fish products from other sources, according to district officials.

Posters have also been placed throughout school cafeterias advising students and the public that all meals are safe and no meal products associated with the USDA directives are being served.

No illnesses associated with the current beef directive were reported at any Broward County Public School location as of Feb. 19, according to district officials.

“I am dismayed at the in-humane handling of cattle that has resulted in the violation of food safety regulations at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company. It is extremely unlikely that these animals were at risk for BSE because of the multiple safeguards; however, this action is necessary because plant procedures violated USDA regulations,”Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer wrote in a statement regarding the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company two-year product recall.