Friday April 18, 2008, 11:32 am
well i don't eat much why the hell don't they hire people

Friday April 18, 2008, 11:43 am
LISTEN TO THE LITTLE GUY HE WILL GET THE JOB DONE RIGHT IF HE SAYS HE NEEDS HELP GET HIM HELP DON'T TELL HIM TO CUT CORNERS AND SLOUCH THE JOB. YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN SOMEBODY KILLED. THE COST OF A DOLLAR IS NOT WORTH THAT OF A HUMAN LIFE.

Friday April 18, 2008, 12:16 pm
If they don't have enough inspectors, then they should hire more. Noted with disgust. Thanks Tom.

Friday April 18, 2008, 12:17 pm
Meat Inspectors Can't Keep Up, Official Says
By JANE ZHANG
April 18, 2008; Page A3

WASHINGTON -- The improper slaughter of so-called downer cows that led to the nation's largest beef recall wasn't an isolated incident, a union official representing U.S. Agriculture Department meat inspectors told a House panel.

The department's meat-inspection agency is so understaffed that some inspectors are assigned to as many as 24 plants or facilities in a geographic region too large to traverse for the required inspections, said Stanley Painter, chairman of the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Local Unions.

A union survey last year found that 75% of inspectors didn't visit their plants daily, as required, and when they did, the processing lines often moved so quickly that contamination was difficult to detect.

"The bottom line is that if plant management creates a culture for their employees to skirt around FSIS regulations, they can usually find a way to do it, because the inspection personnel are usually outnumbered," Mr. Painter, a 22-year veteran of the Food Safety and Inspection Service, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's domestic-policy panel. The union represents about 6,000 FSIS field inspectors but not supervisors or veterinarians.

The hearing is the latest since the February recall of 143 million pounds of beef from Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. The company, which had been the biggest beef supplier to the national school-lunch program, has been closed indefinitely.

The recall was triggered because the plant slaughtered cows that passed an initial inspection but had become unable to stand. Undercover video by the Humane Society of the United States showed workers forcing "downer cows" to stand, using forklifts and electrical-shock devices, and dragging at least one cow to the killing area. Downer cows present a higher risk of mad-cow disease.

The USDA has insisted the recalled beef -- Hallmark/Westland's production over two years -- was safe and most of it was already consumed. "It's not about food safety; it's about a plant not following the rules," said Richard Raymond, agriculture undersecretary for food safety.

Dr. Raymond acknowledged that the FSIS was short-staffed last year, but he said it has hired more field inspectors and reduced the number of managers. He said the USDA's inspector general is continuing to investigate what went wrong at the California plant and "trying to determine if it is not an aberration."

Dr. Raymond said he knew of no other slaughterhouses with problems akin to those at Hallmark/Westland, but he said operations at 66 plants were suspended last year, including 12 where inspectors uncovered inhumane treatment of animals.

Lisa Shames, director of natural resources and environment at the Government Accountability Office, Congress's investigations arm, said more meat has been recalled in recent years, with two of the six biggest meat recalls occurring in the past six months. In October, Topps Meat Co. LLC recalled 22 million pounds of E. coli-contaminated ground beef. The GAO said the number of inspectors dropped from 1995 through 2007, even as the FSIS's budget has increased.

The union's Mr. Painter said, "Every time the money is increasing, we see more managers." He said a quarter of the agency's personnel are in management and one deputy manager can hire four field inspectors. Dr. Raymond said he has reduced the number of management people.

Mr. Painter said inspectors who blow the whistle on slaughterhouse violations often find themselves targets of retaliation within the FSIS. In addition, he said, inspectors are sometimes told not to record violations, giving companies time to fix problems.

Write to Jane Zhang at Jane.Zhang@wsj.com

Friday April 18, 2008, 2:45 pm
I don't eat meat, there's loads of reasons why I don't! Cruelty is the main reason, the diabolical acts of abuse that goes on in slaughterhouses is sick!

www.meat.org

Friday April 18, 2008, 2:46 pm
Also watch Earthlings!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967

Friday April 18, 2008, 2:48 pm
The bottom line is money! The meat industry is a big profit industry, they don't care how the animals are treated at all!

Saturday April 19, 2008, 3:19 am
Would somebody like to explain to me why they call them downer cows?
Considering these are the symptoms of mad cow disease. This saying just sort of fits here: Be afraid, be very afraid.


By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 29, 2008; Page A03

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer told Congress yesterday that he would not endorse an outright ban on "downer" cows entering the food supply or back stiffer penalties for regulatory violations by meat-processing plants in the wake of the largest beef recall in the nation's history.

Appearing at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Schafer said the department is investigating why it missed the inhumane treatment of cattle at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino, Calif., including workers administering electric shocks and high-intensity water sprays to downer cows -- those too sick or weak to stand without assistance.

The secretary announced interim steps such as more random inspections of slaughterhouses and more frequent unannounced audits of the nearly two dozen plants that process meat for federal school lunch programs.

But he deflected calls from Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), the subcommittee chairman, for the government to ban all downer cows from the food supply, increase penalties for violators and require installation of 24-hour surveillance cameras in processing plants.

"The penalties are strong and swift, as we have shown," Schafer said. "Financially, I don't see how this company can survive. People need to be responsible and, from USDA's standpoint, they will be held responsible. . . . They broke the rules. That does not mean the rules are wrong. I believe the rules are adequate."

The hearing came 11 days after Agriculture officials ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of beef processed by Westland/Hallmark, including 37 million pounds that had gone to school lunch and other public nutrition programs. No illnesses have been linked to the recalled meat.

The recall was prompted by the release last month of secretly recorded video footage of the inhumane treatment made by an undercover investigator for the Humane Society, who wore a special video camera under his clothes while working at the plant last year. The company has been closed since Feb. 4, when the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service withdrew inspectors from the slaughterhouse after verifying the mistreatment shown on the videotape and discovering other problems.

"These images exposed wholly unacceptable gaps in American meat inspection systems," Kohl said. "Despite the presence of five inspectors at the Westland/Hallmark plant, blatant violations had evidently occurred for some time. . . . I think we need a more foolproof system."

J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute, a trade association, called the Westland/Hallmark plant "an anomaly, an extreme circumstance."

Government regulations prohibit slaughtering cattle for food if the animals cannot stand or walk on their own. An inspecting veterinarian had said the Hallmark cattle were healthy enough to be used for food, but they subsequently collapsed. Federal regulations require that such animals be reexamined by a veterinarian and slaughtered separately, but that apparently was not done, officials said.

Cows that cannot stand up are supposed to be kept out of the food supply in part because they may be infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. The disease is extremely rare in the United States, but of the 15 cases documented in North America, most in Canada, the majority have been traced to downer cattle.

In 2004, after a downer cow slaughtered in Washington state was found to have the disease, then-Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced a ban on the sale of meat from downer cattle. At the time, 44 nations had closed their borders to U.S. beef over safety concerns. But the department later changed the rules to allow the slaughter of downer cattle if a USDA veterinarian examines them a second time and finds that the cows did not remain on the ground because of an illness.

"I do believe there are cases where downer animals can be approved by the veterinarian and put into the food supply," Schafer said. "They are not sick."

The Humane Society, which believes all downers should be banned, sued the USDA this week over that policy, calling it a "dangerous loophole."

"We need a rigorous inspections program because reckless behavior by a single company can have national and global implications," Wayne Pacelle, the group's president, told the Senate panel. "How many other crises, recalls and public scares can we tolerate before we adopt an unambiguous policy of combating mad cow in the food supply? . . . We need a bright line on this."

Saturday April 19, 2008, 3:22 am
An email to me. Subject: Communication Regarding Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company


Dear Sir/Madam:

Thank you for your communication regarding inhumane handling of cattle at Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company. The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been asked to provide you with a response, and we appreciate the opportunity to update you on how the Agency is responding to the situation. I want to assure you that USDA and FSIS are taking these allegations very seriously. FSIS and the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) are working with the USDA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) as they conduct an investigation into this matter. The USDA investigation is ongoing, and additional actions will be taken as warranted.

FSIS is the public health regulatory agency in USDA responsible for ensuring that meat, poultry, and processed egg products are safe, wholesome, and accurately labeled. FSIS enforces the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act, which require Federal inspection and regulation of meat, poultry, and processed egg products prepared for distribution in commerce for use as human food. FSIS also enforces the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which requires that all livestock at federally inspected establishments be handled and slaughtered in a humane way.

We place a very high priority on ensuring that animals are treated humanely at all times. We have taken prompt actions. A summary of those actions is listed below.

January 30, 2008—USDA indefinitely suspended Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company as a supplier to Federal nutrition assistance programs. In addition, an administrative hold was placed on all Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company products that were in or destined for Federal food and nutrition programs.
February 1, 2008—Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company voluntarily stopped slaughter operations.
February 4, 2008—As a result of FSIS findings, FSIS issued Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company a Notice of Suspension because the establishment failed to maintain and implement controls to prevent the inhumane handling and slaughter of animals at the facility as required by FSIS regulations and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. The suspension will remain in effect and the establishment will be unable to operate until written corrective actions are submitted and verified by FSIS to ensure that animals at the facility are handled and slaughtered humanely.
February 17, 2008—Based on evidence obtained from the ongoing investigation, FSIS announced that Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company had voluntarily recalled raw and frozen beef products produced since February 1, 2006, due to non-compliance with FSIS regulations. The recall has been designated a Class II because these products represent a low risk to human health. The Federal government has an interlocking system of controls established to protect the food supply. Immediately following the recall announcement, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) issued instructions for the recall and destruction of the Hallmark/Westland beef placed on hold since January 30, 2008, and for Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company beef dating back to February 1, 2006. Products affected by the recall are no longer being served in schools. To minimize disruption to school food service operations, USDA is working closely with States to quickly provide replacement commodity product from validated sources or credit their commodity entitlement accounts. For information or questions regarding the purchase of products for Federal food and nutrition programs, you may wish to visit the AMS Web site at http://www.ams.usda.gov/. For information or questions regarding the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), including contact information for the State agency that administers the NSLP in your State, you may wish to visit the FNS Web site at http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/default.htm.
February 28, 2008—FSIS announced the interim actions that the Agency is taking to verify and thoroughly analyze humane handling activities in all federally inspected establishments pending the conclusion of the investigation. Details of the interim activities can be found at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/NR_022908_01/index.asp.
March 18, 2008—FSIS granted the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company’s request for a voluntary withdrawal of inspection.

Please visit the FSIS Web site at http://www.fsis.usda.gov for updates as the investigation progresses.

Sincerely,

Kenneth E. Petersen, D.V.M., M.P.H.
Assistant Administrator
Office of Field Operations


To view the attached PDF file of the official letter, you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html