California Beef Recall

Feb. 20, 2008--Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. has recalled approximately 143 million pounds of raw and frozen beef products. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) determined the meat to be unfit for human consumption since the animals did not receive proper inspection and Hallmark/Westland has been suspended from processing meat and is not operating at this time.

The company did not follow protocol during ante-mortem (before slaughter) inspections. Many animals which became non-ambulatory (unable to stand) following initial inspection were improperly treated in order to make them stand. When these animals were unable to stand they should have been either condemned or tagged suspect. According to the FSIS, suspect animals should have required additional inspection after slaughter.

It is illegal for non-ambulatory animals to be slaughtered and enter the human food supply. The San Bernardino District Attorney has filed felony animal cruelty charges against two Hallmark/Westland employees. The company has fired the two employees who were involved.

The recalled product was supplied directly to federal food and nutrition programs, so none of it was sold through supermarkets or other stores. The USDA has indicated that the risk to the health of children who may have consumed the meat is negligible. The USDA requires all ground beef sold to the federal food and nutrition programs to be tested by independent laboratories for certain pathogens and indicator organisms. Those lots that have positive findings of E. coli 0157:H7 or Salmonella are prohibited from federal food and nutrition programs and FSIS.

Both human and animal health are also protected by a system of interlocking safeguards. These safeguards include the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 1997 ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban and the removal from the human food chain of beef that studies have demonstrated could contain the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) agent.

For questions concerning distribution of Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company products to local school districts, contact the federal food and nutrition program's state distributing agencies

More Information

• The Food Safety and Inspection Service Q&A.
• Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Recall Fact Sheet (from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association)