News Briefs
Concerns about safety of beef in California schools
Feb 28, 2008 1:32 PM
Allegations that at-risk cattle were slaughtered at one of the California school nutrition program’s top suppliers and a slow response from the federal Agriculture Department is sparking congressional calls for an independent investigation into the safety of food supplied to schools across the nation.
In a letter to the Government Accountability Office, California Rep. George Miller, chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, complained that a video released by the Humane Society of the United States raised “urgent concerns” about the safety of food supplied to schools through the department. The video documents employees using forklifts, electric shocks and other inhumane means to force nonambulatory (or “downer”) cows to stand so that they would pass federal inspection in the slaughterhouse.
Cattle that cannot walk are banned from being used as human food because they are at higher risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as Mad Cow Disease.
Miller, who was joined by Nassau County Rep. Carolyn McCarthy and two others, charged the department with repeatedly failing to deliver timely information about food safety issues to schools and to parents.
The USDA suspended inspections at Chino, Cal.-based Hallmark Meat Packing, effectively shuttering the plant, saying the plant’s handling practices were inadequate.
Los Angeles Times, Feb. 15
