Beef taken off the menu after largest US meat recall

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Schools in Washington state and California took beef off the menu on Monday after a Californian meatpacker recalled the largest amount of beef in US history.

But agriculture officials played down the risk to humans after Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing agreed to take back more than 143 million pounds of raw and frozen meet when it was found in violation of inspection rules.

The company, based in Chino, California, voluntarily recalled the beef after the federal Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) determined the cattle "did not receive complete and proper inspection."

The company did not "consistently contact the FSIS public health veterinarian in situations in which cattle became non-ambulatory" before being slaughtered, the USDA...