U.S. orders largest recall of beef ever

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has ordered the largest meat recall in its history — 143 million pounds of beef, a California meatpacker's entire production for the past two years — because the company did not prevent sick animals from entering the U.S. food supply, officials said Sunday.

Despite the breadth of the sanction, USDA officials underscored their belief that the meat, distributed by Westland Meat, poses little or no hazard to consumers, and that most of it was eaten long ago.

About 100 school districts in Washington state received raw beef from Westland in November and December. In late January, the USDA advised schools to stop using any Westland beef. Seattle Public Schools has about 5,000 to 6,000 pounds now stored in a freezer and marked "hold."

"It's already been identified," said district spokesman David Tucker. The recalled beef will likely be replaced by the USDA, or the school district will be reimbursed for the cost.

The recall comes less than three weeks after the release of a videotape showing what USDA later called "egregious violations" of federal animal-care regulations by employees of a Westland partner, Hallmark Meat Packing in Chino, Calif.

Hallmark did not consistently bring in federal veterinarians to examine cattle headed for slaughter that were too sick or weak to stand, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said.

"Downer" cattle are not supposed to be used as meat unless a veterinarian determines that an animal stumbled or fell because of injury that would not affect the safety of their meat. Cattle weakened by disease are not supposed to enter the food supply, although the risk of harm to humans is still fairly low. There is, however, a slightly higher possibility that such cattle are suffering from bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as mad-cow disease.

The USDA said there was only a remote possibility that the recalled beef could make people sick. Schafer said it was "extremely unlikely" that any of the cattle were suffering from mad-cow disease.

Steve Mendell, president of Hallmark Meat Packing and its distributor, Westland, declined to comment.

About 37 million pounds of the meat — cuts, ground beef and prepared products such as meatballs and burrito filling — went to school-lunch and other public-nutrition programs, and "almost all of this product is likely to have been consumed," said Ron Vogel, a USDA administrator. The meat was not available to consumers through retail grocery or meat markets.

Technically, the recall was initiated voluntarily by the company, because the federal government does not have the authority to do so.

Some supermarkets immediately began removing Hallmark meat from their shelves.

Because Hallmark/Westland suspended operations Feb. 4, it is unlikely that any of its fresh meat is still being sold, said Richard Raymond, undersecretary for food safety. Hallmark/Westland meat was also sold to restaurant chains, including In-N-Out Burger and Jack in the Box, but both of those companies said they stopped using it early this month after the first reports of problems at the plant.

The amount of beef affected by the recall may be far larger than 143 million pounds because meat from different companies is often mixed as it goes through numerous processors.

Seattle Times science reporter Sandi Doughton contributed to this report.

Information from the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune

also was included.