Green Options

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At times, we consumers can feel a bit powerless in the wake of so many recalls of everything from food and medicine to toys, knowing that so little of these goods actually do get inspected, and often the inspection process fails. 2007 was a rough year in this capacity.

Last year, there were a record number of contaminated meat recalls, primarily from E. coli risks. Yet, it may surprise many people that despite its role as an inspector, the USDA does not have the legal authority to force a recall of meat and poultry product. It’s a frustrating situation. Indeed, in the wake of the record recalls, the only outcome by the USDA was to determine that a “study needed to be done on the situation.” In other words, little action by the USDA to address the situation and partial, voluntary recalls by the meat companies. Status quo.

And, then the Hallmark/Westmoreland products investigation hit the Web in the form of a video of shocking animal abuse and illegal use of downed cattle for human consumption, including school lunch programs. Actions that occurred despite twice a day visits from a USDA inspector.

The Humane Society released a rather shocking video that was filmed at Hallmark Meat Packing in Chino, CA. The video shows downed cattle being lifted with a forklift and prodded in order to get them on their feet to pass USDA inspection. (Warning, the footage is graphic in showing the abuse of the animals). It’s difficult to link to this, but it is important information that parents of school-aged children need to know about.

Perhaps most shocking of all is that this company had been a leading supplier of beef for the National School Lunch program, meaning that the meat from potentially diseased animals, animals too sick to stand, was processed and sold to schools, 100 million pounds of beef since 2002 in fact.