The U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled 143 million pounds of frozen beef as a result of an animal abuse investigation. Oh yes, and this slaughterhouse provided meat for school lunch programs.
According to CBS News, officials say it is the largest beef recall in the United States– ever. Great, another brilliant accomplishment to add under our belt.
So where did all this beef come from? A wonderful little slaughterhouse in Chino, Calif. Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. is the culprit. Are you ready to grab your kid out of school and run for the hills? I am! Most of the meat was in West and East Tennessee.
But what was going on with this beef that they had to pull freaking 143 million pounds? According to CBS News, Westland/Hallmark used “downer” cattle. Downer? That doesn’t seem so bad. Don’t kid yourself. Downer cattle are cows that can’t walk. Gee, why can’t they walk? They’re sick, ill, infected, diseased, dying, injured, hurt, wounded, upset, all or any of the above!
What did the Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer have to say about this little glitch in the system? Schafer admits the “cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection” making them “unfit for human food.”
Are you scratching your head? Well I was when I read that and I was so confused. Why didn’t they get inspected? Isn’t the USDA supposed to regulate and monitor food for us? Aren’t they supposed to be protecting us? According to the USDA Website they have created a “strategic plan” to enhance “food safety by taking steps to reduce the prevalence of food borne hazards.” Well, it’s not what you think.
I found one of their little handy dandy “safety” programs they plaster all over their press releases: the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). This system identifies an animal’s origin so if meat is found contaminated, the specific farm can be cited. Just disregard a pre-emptive plan and simply create an system for after everyone eats contaminated meat. At least they can do a recall right? The most incredible part is this program is completely voluntary. The NAIS website states:
“You can register your premises today and decide later whether to participate in the rest of the program…Your voluntary participation means that you will be notified quickly when a disease outbreak or other animal health event might put your animals at risk.”
Wait, just when it couldn’t get any worse– it does. According to CBS News, officials estimate around 37 million pounds of that recalled beef went to school programs. Yeah, they also think most of the meat has probably already been eaten. Oops!
And what about those downer cows and the animal abuse investigation? An undercover video from the Humane Society of the United States surfaced showing “crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts… workers kicking, shocking and otherwise abusing downer animals.” Here is the video:
But don’t give those workers any more publicity than needed. Those jerks were charged with felony and misdemeanor counts plus they got fired.
Oh yeah, if you have dined at Jack in the Box or In-N-Out Burger (which is very plausible they’re both about 50 feet from the UNLV campus) both restaurant chains used Westland/Hallmark beef. At least the executives have some sort of intelligence, they both discontinued use from Westland/Hallmark.
” the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). This system identifies an animal’s origin so if meat is found contaminated, the specific farm can be sited (cited). ”
You understand, however, that the specific farms of origin are not to blame – the feed lot they were sold to and the processor that slaughters the cows and prepares the meat are where the trouble lies. It is the stress and mishandling at those locations that bring on the sickness and injury that turns otherwise healthy cows into ‘downers’. NAIS is worse than useless – it opens up the farmer to take the blame for something over which he has no control. Handy, don’t you think?