USDA recalls 143 million pounds of beef

[environmentalist]

Source: MSNBC

LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday recalled 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a Southern California slaughterhouse that is being investigated for mistreating cattle.

Officials said it was the largest beef recall in the United States, surpassing a 1999 ban of 35 million pounds of ready-to-eat meats.

The federal agency said the recall will affect beef products dating to Feb. 1, 2006, that came from Chino, California-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., which supplies meat to the federal school lunch program and to some major fast-food chains.


Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23212514

---

You can find more about this story at THE ENVIRONMENTALIST

[gateley]

1. This is the first I've heard of recalling beef for the mistreatment of cattle, rather

than for a bacteria -- and I LOVE IT! Hit 'em where it hurts!

EDIT: Perhaps we should drop the FDA some lines thanking them for doing the right thing -- let them know they have our support in these actions.

[niyad]

6. as somebody pointed out in a previous thread--a cow which cannot get up

might have BSE--mad cow disease.

[Baby Snooks]

19. Something we are probably lied to about like everything else...

Just because the FDA says the beef supply is safe doesn't mean it is. The cattle industry in this country is a powerful lobby. Especially in Texas. And of course where is George W Bush from? Texas.

Reality is that since 1981 when the Bush Boys swept into Washington along with Ronald Reagan and introduced "deregulation" to the American people, everything has been deregulated and unregulated for one purpose. To insure profit. Even when profit is place above public health.

[Critters2]

73. Indeed. This kind of thing happens all the time.

The person who took the video found these events on his FIRST DAY ON THE JOB!!! No doubt, they take place every day. And at every slaughter house.

[flvegan]

7. It's for potentially processing "downer" cows.

They got nailed on this BECAUSE of the cruelty investigation leading to them fessing up to this.

I've said it before...this is NOT an isolated incident, and is unfortunate for those that eat beef.

[ellenfl]

8. don't believe it . . . there's something really bad or there would not have been a recall. eom

[Critters2]

74. What was bad (for them) is they got caught.

This shit happens every day. The meat industry is evil from top to bottom.

[environmentalist]

9. Wish I could say it was a humanitarian issue

from THE ENVIRONMENTALIST:

The concern is that non-ambulatory and crippled cattle are most at risk for "contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease because they typically wallow in feces and their immune systems are often weak."

More here.

[gateley]

12. Sigh. I should have known. And I just sent them the sweetest e-mail, too!

Thanks guys - I never learn.

[Purveyor]

13. Indeed they slaughtered sick and 'downed' cows without veterinarian oversight.

One of the main symptoms of 'mad cow disease is there inability to stand.

Just should also be noted that the mad cow prion cannot be 'cooked out' of the infected meat.

[kestrel91316]

18. The cattle were DOWNERS that were mistreated in an effort to get them UP so they could

go to slaughter. Federal law prohibits DOWNER CATTLE from entering the human food supply to ensure that nobody suffering from advanced BSE (mad cow disease) gets fed to humans. This slaughterhouse broke the rules for the sake of the almighty dollar, and to hell with how many humans could f---ing DIE as a result.

[housewolf]

2. Wait a second... they're recalling beef that is 2 YEARS OLD????

Is that right? Who would still have been from 2006 still sitting in their freezers??? Am I missing something???

[environmentalist]

4. they use it in fast food and schools

and they could still be within other products. They've closed the slaughterhouse because concerns they were putting cattle through that may have had mad cow disease. More here: http://www.the-environmentalist.com

[halobeam]

60. I can't find anything about whether these animals are tested by now, and what results are.

Seems kind of important.. no? Why if they tested them all and it came up negative would we need to worry that maybe millions of people ate mad cow food. We need answers now.

They got away with it yes, but doesn't look like people aren't going to change this situation after this. I can't imagine people just running out buying beef off the shelves right now... ESPECIALLY those with kids. Even Jenna coulda eaten a mad burger. This could hit anyone at home. Congress people, their relatives, even Supreme Justices grandkids.

Thank GOD for animal activists.

[whistle]

3. I'm having raisin toast and clear tea for dinner

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. glad the only red meat in my freezer

is venison that a neighbor gave us. I know some folk here don't like hunting, but I look at it as supplying food that is free from hormones and stuff. And the hunter prided himself in killing the buck with one shot.

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. I've heard that there is a mad deer disease as well. :^(

[LeftyMom]

38. It's actually much more widespread.

Started out as a problem in farmed deer, but it's epidemic with wild deer (and related animals I think) in much of the US, because the infected deer spread it when they shit somewhere and other deer eat a bit of the spoor with the surrounding vegetation. Presumably that was also the means of spread from captive to wild deer, but it could also have been escapees.

[Lorien]

52. Yeah, I read about a man from Cleveland dying from that tears ago

his daughter described his decent in complete madness before his death, and then and there I swore off ever eating any venison. Now days I stick to a nearly vegetarian diet (still eat fish) for a number of reasons. I am convince that eventually America will experience a massive mad cow pandemic. The way factory farmers are treating their livestock and the fDA is covering their asses is something that can only lead to disaster.

[lapfog_1]

14. Before eating all that deer meat

better go look up the links to CWD in deer and elk.

CWD is thought to be the same prionic disease that appears as Mad Cow in Europe, and also thought to be linked to Crutch-field Jacobs disease in humans. Many hunters in North America (as I recall centered around western dakotas and eastern Wyoming) have been diagnosed with CFJ... much higher incidence than the population in general.

[tavalon]

22. Frankly, I think there may come a time when

the spike in Alzheimer's will be looked at more closely. I suspect a somewhat different manifestation of prion like disease might be being "mistaken" for Alzheimer's. Of course, there is no motivation right now, nor necessarily later, for doing that uncovering. Better to cover the asses of the corporate masters.

As an aside, I had one of those moments in the QFC where the obviousness of a cover up is there for all to see, if only people looked. See, back in the 90s when there was a huge spike in Autism cases, the CDC was looking for ways to deny that there was a problem. They said at the time that it was just an "expansion of the criteria". Didn't fly with all the parents who had very disabled autistic kids. Then they tried using the "MDs are better at diagnosing it now" as though in the 50s those moron doctors didn't recognize autism. Anyway, I'm making as long story, longer. One of the hallmarks of this new influx of autistic kids is that they don't get potty trained until between 6 and 18 years of age. So, I was in the QFC and I realized they now have a store brand of kids diapers up to 125 lbs. Trust me, those didn't exist in the nineties, because the previously undiagnosed autistics(from the 50s) didn't wet the bed. See? It just boggles. Of course, the CDC moved on from that rationalization, to playing the "we see the problem, but we have no idea what caused it. Seems to be getting better though!" game. And with the exception of a handful of doctors, legislators and a large number of furious parents, the public just happily toodles along, believing whatever current CDC bullshit that happens to be spewing out at the given time.

Basically, I think we're seeing the same thing in the beef industry. You can't find BSE if you aren't looking for it and the brain degeneration spike we're seeing in the elderly is just "because MDs are better at diagnosing" (where have I heard that before?), because people are living to an older age (with their brain proteins falling apart and tangling), yadda, yadda, yadda. In ten years, it will be, "gee, there IS some sort of brain infection here but we have no idea where it's coming from!".

[defendandprotect]

34. Anyone who can connect two dots understands spongiform diseases . . .

are Scrapie = Mad Cow = CJD = Alzheimer's

[tavalon]

45. Yeah, well, I was trying to give it the benefit of the doubt

but, yeah, that's pretty much a duh. But, hey, spend that "rebate" on meat, and in 20 years, you won't remember how badly they fucked you.

[conflictgirl]

66. Absolutely! Most people don't know the half of it

I have to find the link to the story again but I remember reading about a young guy in Washington state - only in his 30s or 40s if I remember right - who had some strange Alzheimer's-like disease. Doctors couldn't figure it out but his condition kept deteriorating until finally he died. His family wanted to have his brain autopsied to see if he had CJD and the government wouldn't allow it. Hmm...

[halobeam]

65. Great racket... get us sick to make money/give diff. disease name/get rich by selling us meds.

[UpInArms]

10. it's moments like this that I am grateful my family gave up beef

in 2003

[kimmylavin]

15. Oh.

Well, there IS some good to be had in the fact that my husband and I can't afford to buy meat anymore.

[Phred42]

16. Unregulated Free Market at it's best

[Wetzelbill]

25. we all know it magically works, commie!!!

nt

[Phred42]

51. Faith-Based inspections

[DainBramaged]

17. This is long overdue, long overdue

[beezlebum]

20. infuriating

sick.

i wish i could pack lunches for my kids. picky picky picky- they want either bologna or pb&j, but their schools don't allow peanut butter due to the large amts of peanut allergies (a-whole-nother thread), and i refuse refuse i tell you to buy bologna! i really can't afford to send much else. at home i can cook healthy meals, but there is no way they can reheat. (i'd love a pm of tips or other ideas, affordable and don't require reheating etc).

[lonestarnot]

26. fruit, cheese, tuna, egg salad, nuts, cke, chips, ham and cheese roll-ups,

turkey and lettuce, tomatoes, alvacados, crackers, chicken salad,

:evil grin:

and spam

[tsuki]

33. Noooot spam. But I doan't like spam.

All of the above plus, cheese and crackers, 4 oz frozen fruit cups, popcorn, carrots, ants on a log (celery filled w/peanut butter dotted with raisons), and one of son's favs--hollowed out halojeno peppers filled with peanut butter. If you freeze the fruit juice, it is still cold by lunch time.

[beezlebum]

50. thanks for both

lonestarnot and tsuki

my daughter looooves ants on a log and would eat that all day if she could, but, no peanut butter allowed, and my son will only eat carrots cooked (he is anti-veggie).

i really appreciate the suggestions, & i know it's more or less common sense, but i'm working around such pickiness. i'm going to start sending this stuff anyway. i'm tired of worrying about what they're eating at school, and if they get hungry, they'll eat what i send, since the school will not feed children who have not paid for lunch.

[lonestarnot]

53. Eat it or starve egh? I have the same problem with a picky little fart too.

He's going to turn into a piece of pizza.

[tsuki]

61. BTW, son loved cold pizza in his lunch, but since he had tomato

sensitives, I had to make mock pizza sauce. It looked liked pizza sauce. It just turned the crusts a tad purple. The other kids wanted to know why his pizza was purple. He told them if your pizza was purple, it meant it was authentic. (Found that out years later when his friends finally asked me why I sent purple pizzas.)

[lonestarnot]

81. LOL

He should have said he was the purple people eater!

[tsuki]

83. I'll tell him. You're to fast.

[sandyd921]

42. tuna = mercury

n/t

[Critters2]

75. Veggie bologna.

I like some of the veggie cold cuts. Especially the veggie pastrami. Maybe not like the real thing (I haven't eaten it in 8 years, so may not recall accurately), but not bad, really.

ttp://www.yvesveggie.com/home.htm

[AngryOldDem]

21. Since some of this meat was processed in 2006...

...thanks for the warning, USDA!

How long would it take for symptoms stemming from mad cow to show up among the general population? Just wondering.

A recall of meat that dates back *two* frigging years....there are no words.

[tavalon]

23. About 20-30 years. Count back and hope you stopped eating meat around then

Look at the huge spike in degenerative brain issues among the elderly (including George Bush. At least this is one thing he gets to share in) and wonder. I know I do. And, while I'm not a researcher, I am a medical professional.

[DaveJ]

27. What about certified meat?

I pay a lot more the meat at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, etc, and I know that in some cases the label might be undeserved. Much of Europe from what I understand has higher standards, and in the U.S. we have the 'freedom' fund cheap meat suppliers if we want. Just wondering if you think the problem extends to all meat....

[tavalon]

28. I was actually wondering the same thing but with union negotiations

breathing down my neck, I have no time for that research. If you take it up, I'd love to know what you find out.

[defendandprotect]

31. It extends not only to anything from a cow, but to every animal ---

You get to see the "downed" cows because the illnesses do catch up with them in their lifetimes. . .
but chickens and other small animals which are killed faster also can be ill --- but it hasn't
shown up yet ---

[AngryOldDem]

32. Well, then, I'm pretty much screwed.

Growing up, I was pretty much a meat-and-potatoes type kid. And you're right -- I really didn't make the connection between the rise in degenerative brain conditions and possible contaminated meat. I'm sure that, plus the chemicals used for animal growth and preservatives, account for a lot of the health issues we see today; attributing the rise in health issues to an increasingly aging population is just too easy of an answer.

Thanks for the reply.

[defendandprotect]

35. Folks, let's call it what it is . . . cow parts, animal parts --- not "meat" ---

[Wetzelbill]

24. I was just telling my RW friend that eating meat....

is dangerous when Republicans have spent 6 years in charge because they don't believe in regulating meat properly etc etc. And Bush still in the WH too. Bad stuff. We're lucky they decided to recall it, it has to be bad for them to even acknowledge it.

[defendandprotect]

37. Decades ago they began to feed animals to other animals ......reteaching

Europeans how to do this ---

This isn't simply about the last six years ---

and what they have "recalled" was processed two years ago --- !!!

Most of it has been eaten --- !!!

[TrogL]

29. Maybe they should import some from Canada

...where we actually have beef inspectors that catch tainted meat.

[tsuki]

36. Husband still has to have his bacon. Boarshead, pkg in Canada only

at this house. Also Canadian Cheddar, yummy.

[defendandprotect]

30. Imagine how BAD this must be for the "Bushed" USDA to go after them --- !!!!

but, OOps! -- THIS is why . . ..

Federal officials suspended operations at Westland/Hallmark after an undercover Humane Society video surfaced showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts.

Authorities said the video showed workers kicking, shocking and otherwise abusing animals that were apparently too sick or injured to walk into the slaughterhouse. Some animals had water forced down their throats, San Bernardino County prosecutor Michael Ramos said.

Federal regulations call for keeping downed cattle out of the food supply because they may pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease because they typically wallow in feces and their immune systems are often weak.

In other words . . .
If there had been no Humane Society video --- there would be no investigation, no recall.
******************************************************************************************



Also:
Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer said his department has evidence that Westland did not routinely contact its veterinarian when cattle became non-ambulatory after passing inspection, violating health regulations.

"Because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection, Food Safety and Inspection Service has determined them to be unfit for human food and the company is conducting a recall," Schafer said in a statement.

Three ex-employees charged
Two former employees were charged Friday. Five felony counts of animal cruelty and three misdemeanors were filed against a pen manager. Three misdemeanor counts — illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal — were filed against an employee who worked under that manager. Both were fired.


Officials estimate that about 37 million pounds of the recalled beef went to school programs, but they believe most of the meat probably has already been eaten.

"We don't know how much product is out there right now. We don't think there is a health hazard, but we do have to take this action," said Dr. Dick Raymond, USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety.

Most of the beef was sent to distribution centers in bulk packages. The USDA said it will work with distributors to determine how much meat remains.

About 150 school districts around the nation have stopped using ground beef from Hallmark Meat Packing Co., which is associated with Westland. Two fast-food chains, Jack-In-the-Box and In-N-Out, said they would not use beef from Westland/Hallmark.

[LeftyMom]

39. Somebody else (HSUS) caught and publicized it.

Just days ago both the USDA and the plant (and a few defenders on DU) were saying this was no big deal. So is this going on at all the other plants that aren't being investigated with hidden cameras? Quite possibly. Don't count on the USDA to tell you the truth on that one, they're much more interested in serving industry than the public.

[defendandprotect]

41. Right . . . but presume you didn't read my comments . . .

[Critters2]

76. The undercover employee found this on his first day there.

You bet your ass it's going on at other plants. On a daily basis.

[whistle]

40. So this was meat contaminated with downer cattle, sick steers infected

...with a wide array od bovine diseases including Mad-Cow. The executives of the companies which authorized the use of these sick cows should be prosecuted for attempted murder of consumers

[halobeam]

63. I can't find where they report whether or not they tested the animals!

Have you seen anything? If they did test, what are the results?

[whistle]

80. Downer cattle are sick animals, in some cases near death and they are not

...allowed in the human food chain regardless of what they test for. What this company did is criminal.

[underpants]

43. Visit and buy from a local farm

DUH!

[AtomicKitten]

44. slaughterhouse = "mistreating cattle" and then some

143 lb of dead animal ... for nothing.

Assholes.

[minnesota_liberal]

46. That's equivalent to over 70,000 cattle!

Even if authorities could track down all that ground beef, what will they do with it?

[LeftyMom]

47. Probably repackage it and sell it to a poor country.

Sort of like those recalled toys that kept turning up in discount stores.

[Critters2]

77. Or put it in dog food. Like they did with one of the BSE cows. nt

[Wcross]

70. This site claims there is 490lbs of "meat" on an average cow.

http://ask.metafilter.com/27259/How-much-meat-is-there-...

My guess it is more like 200k+ cattle.

[minnesota_liberal]

82. My calculation was based on total weight (2,000 lbs) instead of salable meat

Another fun calculation is that of total volume in cubic feet. I figured it's roughly equivalent to a city block (330' by 660') almost 14 feet deep.

[icnorth]

79. Since that 143,000,000 pounds

is processed and not on the hoof, I might boost that number up to to 175,000 cattle.

[Caria]

48. Is there a list of school systems that fed these products to kids?

I'm scared, and angry at all the people who knowingly risked the health and future of America's schoolchildren.

[yewberry]

49. I haven't seen a comprehensive list.

I was able to find out that hundreds of our local school districts here in WA were serving it up to this past week.

I checked a local news site and their coverage of the story for the 'local angle.' You could try that for your area.

[nam78_two]

54. That is so sad-the kicking & abuse of the downer cows

And this isn't the first time I have heard of that sort of thing either....
The Humane Society is a great group-I would urge anyone interested in learning about the animal cruelty issues they address to visit their website:

http://www.hsus.org

[fascisthunter]

55. Here are Important Snips from the Article:

Because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection, Food Safety and Inspection Service has determined them to be unfit for human food and the company is conducting a recall,” Schafer said in a statement.

snip

Federal officials suspended operations at Westland/Hallmark after an undercover video from the Humane Society of the United States surfaced showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts.

snip

Authorities said the video showed workers kicking, shocking and otherwise abusing “downer” animals that were apparently too sick or injured to walk into the slaughterhouse. Some animals had water forced down their throats, San Bernardino County prosecutor Michael Ramos said.

----------

The Article's Headline is a bit misleading. This isn't just about mistreating cattle.

[conflictgirl]

72. The headline is actually VERY misleading

This story is being spun as though it's all about mistreating cattle, which I think is deliberate. Most people will look at it as an animal cruelty issue, and think "well that's too bad" but continue to eat meat without even thinking twice about it. Although those cattle were unquestionably mistreated, not to minimize the significance of animal cruelty at all but this is MUCH more about the risks it presents to everyone to have downer cows in the food supply! We have a lot of hunters around where I live and they never go after the sickest and weakest animals. If people had to go out and get their own food there's no way they would want to eat the sick animals. The bigger question here is how much risk is there from eating really diseased animals, and it's really not about the mistreatment of animals.

[pinniped]

56. Even if this this company were shut down, they'll just open under a new name.

The management and workers will most likely be the same, as will the practice of forklifting cows.

[sam sarrha]

57. you need to go to this link to understand why...>>Link>>

http://www.maddeer.org

google: Prion disease, you cant kill the organism that causes mad cow, mad deer, CJD, Wasting disease.. it survives 1800* F and still infects, it can jump species in 4 generations or less

google: RED ZONE deer, .. mink were infected by eating feed made from "Downed Cows", the mink escaped their cages and infected local deer herds, in an area known as the red zone 10's of thousands of square miles, and growing, it is passed co social licking of deer, the deer share salt licks used by range cattle grazed on public land

[halobeam]

58. Here is a PRODUCT RECALL LIST

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/17/usdabeef.recall.li...

I'd like to get my hands on a school list too! I will look at local news stories, but there should be a list just like this recall list somewhere.

More info on schools http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5549289.html

don't know who talked about chickens being fed cow spinal cord, but this info in the link above says that is a primary place where a disease would be found, and they said "it doesn't enter food chain." interesting.

I'd like to know what chicken facilities are feeding their chickens this.

ARIZONA LIST OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT ARE ON RECALL LIST
http://www.kpho.com/news/15328254/detail.html?rss=pho&p...
I'm still looking for one complete list

[LeftyMom]

59. I don't see where to return the stuff. Are they expecting people to junk it and they keep the money?

Say I had a various weight box of Hallmark Meat Packing Beef Spleens all up in my freezer with disease. (Yeah, I know I'm vegan, but I'm making a point.) Do I contact Hallmark for a refund? Does my wholesaler refund me and then bill Hallmark? Do I just dumpster it and figure I'm out whatever a box of beef spleens costs these days?

Usually a recall notice says what to do to get a refund, or repair parts for things that can be fixed.

[halobeam]

62. Great question. Alot of info is missing. Like: Did they test the animals?

What are the results? Normal fking questions. Oh, I'm so mad... maybe I'VE GOT IT!!

[LeftyMom]

64. They're not allowed to do more frequent tests on the animals.

And the test used here is so slow that by the time the results are back, the tested animal is long since slaughtered, processed and eaten. Not that it matters, when they find a positive animal they don't give out much information anyhow, certainly not enough to know if one might have eaten the thing.

Compare that to other countries, where they use a rapid test and every animal is tested. They don't do that here, because they'd lose money if they started catching all the sick animals and the real incidence rate of mad cow in the US were known. So instead they feed them to people, and eventually some of those people will get a horrible brain wasting disease and die painfully. But profits will be preserved, and that's the important thing.

Edit: minor verb tense issue

[halobeam]

67. what about the live animals (non-ambulatory) that were there when they shut it down?

Why wouldn't they test THEM? Isn't it a case of if none that were there had it, the less chance the animals that were already slaughtered wouldn't? Don't they give it to each other?

[LeftyMom]

68. No, the vector is ingestion and transmission from the mother. It's a prion disease.

Prion diseases are pretty hard to catch, but also very difficult to eliminate, because prions aren't alive (they're malformed proteins.) So you can't just find a way to kill them or stop their breeding as you would a bacteria or a virus. You have to destroy the protein utterly, which usually means crazy amounts of heat. (Remember the scenes of the Brits burning huge piles of dead cattle? This is why.)

Anyhow, the disease spreads when infected cows (who probably got the disease from being fed infected sheep) are fed to other cows. Some of those cows give birth to still more infected cows, but it's cow being fed to cow that created a widespread problem.

That practice is now banned, but it's legal to feed rendered cow goodness to chickens, and to feed chicken litter (shit, straw, spilled feed, feathers, etc- barn sweepings) back to cattle, so cows in this country are still eating cows, only with a stopover in the chicken shed.

[halobeam]

71. thanks for taking the time.

I can dig for pieces of information, which I do, but it helps to hear it put together. Appreciated.

[LeftyMom]

78. No problem.

I've been posting about this for as long as I've been here, but unfortunately the response is usually underwhelming. Maybe people are starting to get it. I hope the problem gets addressed before people start getting sick. I really don't think it will, but I'd dearly love to be surprised.

[LynnTheDem]

69. Third.

World.

Country.