FACT SHEET: Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Recall

Animal Welfare

Animal care and raising cattle go hand-in-hand. America’s beef producers know that giving animals the proper care, handling and nutrition they deserve is the right thing to do and it makes good business sense.

• Beef producers have long recognized the need to properly care for their livestock. Sound animal husbandry practices – based on research and decades of practical experience – affect the well-being of cattle, individual animal health and herd productivity.
• The treatment of cattle depicted in a video released by the Humane Society of the United States on Jan. 30 in no way represents the types of treatment cattle receive on a daily basis. We strongly encourage action against anyone who violates animal welfare laws in this way.
• The Producer Code of Cattle Care serves as formalized animal welfare guidelines for the beef industry in areas including feeding and nutrition; animal health practices; and handling sick, disabled or diseased livestock. Importantly, these guidelines state that “persons who willfully mistreat animals will not be tolerated.”

The Humane Slaughter Act of 1958 dictates strict animal handling and slaughtering standards for packing plants that are monitored by thousands of federal meat inspectors nationwide. More information about humane animal slaughtering practices can be found at http://www.meatami.com/.

Understanding Recalls

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) recalls food products for a variety of reasons, including the potential presence of pathogens like E. coli O157:H7, undeclared allergens such as peanuts or soy or physical contaminants like plastic material. More information about the government’s food recall process can be found at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/FSIS_Food_Recalls/index.asp

The Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. recall of 143.38 million pounds of beef is the largest meat recall to date (a 1998 Sarah Lee recall was 35 million pounds of various ready-to-eat meat products; Topps was 21.7 million pounds of ground beef). FSIS classified this recall as a “Class II” recall rather than a “Class I” because there is only a remote probability of adverse health consequences.

Safety of U.S. Beef Supply

The “downer cow” ban is just one of many safeguards designed to protect animal health and the human food supply from BSE. Because the inability of cattle to walk can be a symptom of BSE (commonly referred to as “mad cow” disease), USDA prohibits all animals that are unable to walk from entering the human food supply.

USDA mandates that when cattle are processed, all tissues that could potentially carry BSE in an animal must be removed and cannot go into the food supply. This ensures this disease has no access to the rest of the processed product and is another safeguard protecting public health.

Robust surveillance data show BSE is rare in this country (existing in fewer than one animal per 1 million adult cattle). USDA maintains an ongoing BSE surveillance program and currently tests approximately 40,000 high-risk cattle annually, a number that exceeds the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) recommended testing levels.

Timeline of Events

The following are the most relevant developments since USDA launched its investigation into allegations of animal cruelty at Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. in Chino, Calif. on Jan. 30, 2008:

• USDA suspended the company as a supplier of the National School Lunch Program and placed an administrative hold on products produced by the company on Jan. 30.
• The company voluntarily stopped all operations at the plant on Feb. 1 and FSIS officially suspended plant production on Feb. 4;
• USDA extended its hold on products produced by the plant on Feb. 8 pending the results of its investigation.
• On Feb. 15, criminal charges were filed against two former Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company employees.
• FSIS announced Feb. 17 Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. is recalling 143 million pounds of beef products because the cattle did not receive proper inspection.

Beef Industry at a Glance

The U.S. beef industry is made up of more than 1 million businesses, farms and ranches. In 2006, there were more than 800,000 ranchers and cattle producers in the United States caring for an average inventory of 97.1 million cattle.

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