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Westland Recalls 140 Million Pounds of Beef

By Pritzker | Ruohonen

Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. of Chino, California has voluntarily recalled more than 140 million pounds of raw and frozen beef.  The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has designated the beef to present a low health risk, making it a Class II recall.  The recall comes as a response to an FSIS suspension because the company did not completely and properly inspect their cattle.  We have had a lot of people comment on the recall on a previous post.  Read the post and the comments.

According to an FSIS news release, over the past two years Westland repeatedly failed to contact FSIS public health veterinarians in situations that involved cattle becoming non-ambulatory after passing FSIS ante-mortem inspection. The FSIS issued the “Prohibition of the Use of Specified Risk Materials for Human Food and Requirements for the Disposition of Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle” in July 2007, a ruling that FSIS believes Westland violated.

According to the FSIS recall statement,

Some of the Westland Meat Co. branded products were purchased for Federal food and nutrition programs and, since Jan. 30, 2008, USDA has had an administrative hold on all products from Westland Meat Co. in all of these outlets including, in the National School Lunch Program, the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Food Assistance Program on Indian Reservations. Based on this Class II recall, officials of the Food and Nutrition Service and Agricultural Marketing Service will work closely with State food and nutrition officials to minimize any disruptions caused by the removal and disposal of recalled Westland Meat Co. products.

FSIS began to investigate the situation at Westland after receiving allegations of inhumane treatment of non-ambulatory animals.  Westland voluntarily ceased operations on February 1 and an FSIS Notice of Suspension was issued on February 4 due to Westland’s violation of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.

According to a Q&A release from the FSIS,

The Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company must first respond to the Notice of Suspension and submit a corrective action plan to address its failure to properly implement the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act and FSIS regulations. FSIS must first verify that the plan they submit fully and completely addresses the findings in the Notice of Suspension to ensure the humane handling and slaughter of animals at the facility.

The FSIS investigation of Westland is still underway and the company has yet to issue any written document detailing solutions to the violations. The USDA will reimburse states for any money lost due to the processing of Westland meat, and any products containing Westland meat should be destroyed according to government guidelines. The USDA is also pursuing actions to end contractual agreements with Westland so that the products lost can be replaced by other providers.

Concern over the recalled beef products centers around risks of spreading Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) into the nation’s food supply.  However, according to FSIS, the risk of BSE in the Westland meat is:

Negligible. The federal government has an interlocking system of controls to protect the food supply and to prevent animals with signs of central nervous system disorders from entering the food chain. All cattle at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company passed ante-mortem inspection before slaughter.

Since Westland meat was provided for federal government programs such as the School Lunch Program, there is concern about dangerous meat being served at schools; however FSIS maintains that the health risk to children from the recalled meat is negligible. 

Not only are there domestic concerns about Westland meat, but there may be complications in international trade.  Westland exported products to the Ivory Coast and Angola in 2007, but the USDA stands by their means of regulation, explaining that United States standards are 10 times stricter than those recommended by the World Organization for Animal Health.

A list of specific products being recalled can be found at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/Recall_005-2008_Release.pdf

Contact information about which schools received Westland products can be found at:

http://www.usda.gov/actions

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on February 19, 2008 (boomark / email).