What Does a Million Pounds of Beef Look Like
(CNN) -- A shambles that has been accused of mistreating cows agreed Sunday to recall 143 million pounds of beef in what federal officials called the largest beef think in U.S. history.
Officials said this is the largest recall in the United states, surpassing a 1999 recall of 35 1000000 pounds.
Keith Williams, a U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman, said investigators have found no cases of illness related to the recalled meat.
But Dick Raymond, the undersecretary of agriculture for food safety, said at that place was a "remote probability" that the meat from the Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Company in Chino, California, could crusade disease in humans.
The amount of beef -- 143 million pounds -- is roughly plenty for 2 hamburgers for each man, woman and child in the United States.
The largest U.Due south. meat remember earlier Sun came in 1999, when about 35 million pounds of production possibly contaminated with listeria were ordered off shelves. USDA officials said that was Course I recall, involving a known adventure to homo health.
Sunday's action was a Form II recall, under which authorities say in that location is petty risk of illness.
Raymond said cattle that had lost the ability to walk since passing pre-processing inspections were slaughtered without an inspector having examined them for chronic illness -- a practice he said violated federal regulations and had been going on for at to the lowest degree two years. 
Federal regulations are aimed at preventing the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE -- the scientific name for "mad cow" affliction.
It'southward important to keep downed cattle out of the food supply because they also may pose a college take chances of contamination from Eastward. coli or salmonella because the animals tend to wallow in feces and have weaker immune systems, according to AP.
Raymond said the average age of the cattle involved is five-7 years, meaning they were likely born long later on a 1997 ban on ruminant feed, and that the incidence of BSE in U.Southward. cattle is "extremely rare."
"Nosotros do not know how much of this product is out there at this time. Nosotros practice not feel this product presents a wellness risk of any significance," he said. "But the product was produced in non-compliance with our regulations, and so therefore we do accept to take this action."
About 37 million pounds of the meat went to school luncheon programs and other federal nutrition programs since Oct 2006, said Ron Vogel, of the USDA's Food and Diet Service.
Don't Miss
The call up dates dorsum to February 1, 2006, and Raymond said "the great majority" of the meat has probably been eaten already. USDA officials have begun tracing the products covered by the think, he said.
"A lot of this is fresh, raw production and with ground beef, etcetera, that has a very brusque shelf life and fridge life," he said.
Most of the beef was sent to distribution centers in bulk packages. The USDA said it volition piece of work with distributors to decide how much meat remains, the AP reports.
In January, the Humane Guild of the The states accused Westland/Hallmark of abusing "downed" cattle, releasing video that showed workers boot cows, jabbing them near their eyes, ramming them with a forklift and shooting loftier-intensity water up their noses in an attempt to strength them to their feet for slaughter.
Federal inspectors halted operations at the plant earlier this month subsequently finding "clear violations" of USDA regulations.
California prosecutors on Friday announced animal cruelty charges against ii one-time employees of the found.
In a statement issued February 3, Westland Meat President Steve Mendell said the visitor was cooperating with the USDA and called the practices depicted in the humane social club video as "a serious breach of our company'due south policies and training."
"We have taken swift activeness regarding the two employees identified on the video and accept already implemented aggressive measures to ensure all employees follow our humane handling policies and procedures," Mendell said. Due east-post to a friend 
CNN's Jen Pifer contributed to this report.
All About U.S. Department of Agriculture • Food Safety and Inspection Service
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/17/beef.recall/
0 Response to "What Does a Million Pounds of Beef Look Like"
Post a Comment