O.C. school districts stop serving beef
after Chino slaughterhouse warning

UPDATE: Some districts will put ban into effect Monday; one determined burgers served Friday were made with meat from a different distributor.

CATTLE ISSUES: Cattle seen at Hallmark Meat Packing Co. on Wednesday in Chino. The Agriculture Department said it would investigate whether sick dairy cows were mistreated at the slaughterhouse in violation of state and federal laws designed to ensure food safety and prevent animal cruelty.
The Associated Press, Walter Richard Weis

Most local school districts began pulling beef from lunch menus Friday following a warning from the state Department of Education and U.S. Department of Agriculture against beef products provided by Chino-based supplier Westland Meat Co.

The Hallmark Meat Packing Co., a partner and provider of beef to Westland, was targeted by an undercover video shot by the Humane Society of the U.S., which shows workers using forklifts, electric shocks and water sprays to force “downed” cows to stand for federal inspections needed before they could be slaughtered.

Federal law prohibits the slaughter of sick cows because they are more likely to carry disease.
At least three local districts said they receive some beef from Westland – Garden Grove Unified, Irvine Unified and Magnolia School District.

It’s still unclear just how many other districts got beef from Westland, one of the nation’s top suppliers to the National School Lunch Program.

"We do believe that commodity meat from Westland was received by districts, either as commodity meat or as some processed product,” said Phyllis Bramson-Paul, director of the nutrition services division, California Department of Education. “We know that there is some Westland meat at the schools.”

Most local school districts with students who receive free or reduced-priced meals belong to the federal school lunch program, meaning they potentially could have received Westland beef. All students at schools in the program receive the same lunches.

Attempting to identify sources of processed meat can be difficult, said Dick Greene, Newport-Mesa Unified’s director of food services.

“Just one burger patty can contain meat from five different suppliers,” he said.
That’s why his district will stop serving beef products for up to a month or longer while federal investigators determine if meat is tainted, Greene said.

“We are currently writing menus for February that contain no beef,” Greene said.
Officials from several districts said they are asking vendors to provide more chicken, pork and non-meat products like pizza, salads and pasta.

Orange Unified served beef Friday after officials determined the meat to be safe, but the district will stop serving additional beef on Monday, said Judy Pollock, the district’s nutritional services director.

Capistrano stopped service of commodity meat from all providers Friday, but still served double cheeseburgers as planned at all elementary schools in the district because the beef came from Gold Star, a Los Angeles-based food distributor. Gold Star informed the district that its meat had not come from Westland, said Christina Sangster, director of food and nutrition services for the 51,000-student district.

Irvine Unified will still serve some beef that district officials know isn’t from Westland, said district spokesman Ian Hannigan. But beef from other questionable sources will be removed, he said.

Brea-Olinda Unified students were supposed to receive cheeseburgers for lunch Monday, but cafeteria workers plan to serve peanut butter sandwiches instead.
Fountain Valley School District officials said they have no Westland meat products and are continuing to serve beef.

Veronica Thompson, a parent at Johnson Middle School in Westminster School District, which also stopped serving beef Friday, said she plans to pack homemade lunches for her two children for the rest of the year.

“This is really disturbing news,” Thompson said. “It just goes to show that people can’t really trust anything they eat. It also makes you wonder what else gets in our food that we never hear about.”

Register staff writer Julie Anne Ines contributed to this report.
http://www.ocregister.com/news/meat-westland-school-1971077-beef-products

Friday, February 1, 2008

Text of the state Department of Education alert on meat

The United States Department of Agriculture (UDSA) has placed an administrative hold on all Westland Meat Company products produced between January 1, 2007 and January 30, 2008.

The California Department of Education advises agencies not to use beef products from Westland until further notice. In addition, we recommend that agencies not use any processed end-products containing beef pending further instructions.

The commodity ground beef involved with this hold are:

• Private and State Distribution Centers
• MCI Foods
• Rose and Shore Meat, Inc.

• Don Lee Farms
• Pierre Foods
• JTM Provisions, Inc.
• Integrated
• Advance Food Company

While the Food Distribution Program is working with these processors to identify end-products made with Westland meat, we cannot be certain at this time what  processed end-products you may have received that contain Westland meat. We are advising your agency not to serve any processed end-products containing commodity beef unless and until we know that the beef was not from Westland.

Westland Meat Company has been suspended indefinitely as a supplier to Federal food and nutrition programs. The suspension will remain in effect until all investigations are complete and appropriate action is taken by the USDA. Under the suspension, no further contracts will be awarded to Westland Meat Company. Additionally, Westland Meat Company will not produce or deliver any products currently under contract.

Background: The Humane Society released undercover video footage showing workers at Hallmark Meat Packing Co. delivering repeated electric shocks to cows too sick or weak to stand on their own; drivers using forklifts to roll the "downer" cows on the ground in efforts to get them to stand up for inspection.
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer on Thursday suspended indefinitely Westland Meat Co., which uses Hallmark beef and partners with the slaughterhouse, from participating in the National School Lunch and placed a hold on all Westland products destined for federal food programs.
The law: USDA regulations and California law do not allow mistreatment of disabled animals.
Federal laws also call for keeping downed cows out of the food supply because they may pose a higher risk of E. coli, salmonella contamination, or mad cow disease since they typically wallow in feces and their immune systems are often weak.
Local school reactions
School districts indefinitely banning all beef starting Friday include: Anaheim City, Anaheim Union, Brea-Olinda Unified, Buena Park, Garden Grove Unified, La Habra City, Laguna Beach Unified, Lowell Joint, Magnolia, Newport-Mesa Unified, Ocean View, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified, Saddleback Valley Unified, Santa Ana Unified, Savanna, Tustin Unified, Westminster.
Districts banning all beef starting Monday include: Orange Unified, Capistrano Unified.
Districts still serving some beef determined safe by school officials: Fountain Valley School District does not carry any Westland products; Irvine Unified removed beef provided by Westland, but will continue to serve beef from other suppliers.
Other districts did not immediately return phone calls.
Other impacts: In N Out said Friday that the Irvine fast-food chain has ended its relationship with Hallmark Meat Packing Co. following the allegations against the slaughterhouse. San Diego-based Jack in the Box doesn’t “purchase product directly from Westland/Hallmark,” but told suppliers to suspend use of any product from the companies under investigation.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/education/datacenter/article_1972393.php