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PORKER

Well-known member
Food maker CEOs face House grilling
Panel to ask heads of ConAgra and other companies about recurring safety lapses.


See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close) By Parija B. Kavilanz, CNNMoney.com senior writer
February 25 2008: 2:37 PM EST



Congressional panel set to grill food company CEOs Tuesday about food safety lapses and continuing meat product recalls.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Lawmakers and food company CEOs come face-to-face Tuesday in a special hearing to address food safety lapses following this month's largest beef recall in U.S. history.

The hearing, titled " Contaminated Food: Private Sector Accountability," is being called by the House Energy and Commerce Committee's subpanel responsible for probing food safety issues.

"We will have before us the presidents and CEOs of some of the companies that have produced contaminated food in the past year," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the House Energy Committee chairman, in a statement.

"I look forward to not only asking them why the incidents involving their products occurred, but also what our regulators were doing during these incidents," said Dingell, is an ex-officio member of the subpanel.

Among the executives scheduled to testify is Steve Mendell, CEO of Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., although it has not yet been confirmed that he'll appear voluntarily.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ordered a recall of 143 million pounds of beef produced by Westland/Hallmark - the largest in U.S. history - after a video showed potentially sick cows being dragged to the slaughterhouse.

The USDA said about 37 million pounds of meat produced by Westland/Hallmark has been supplied to school lunch programs and other federal nutrition programs since October 2006.

A published report Monday quoted a Westland/Hallmark employee as saying that the company may have to shut down its operations.

Also scheduled to testify at the hearing are Gary Rodkin, CEO of ConAgra Foods (CAG, Fortune 500), Christopher Lischewski, CEO of Bumble Bee Food, David DeLorenzo, CEO of Dole Food Co., and Keith Shoemaker, CEO of Butterball.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Chino beef recall puts consumers, grocers in a pickle
10:49 PM PST on Wednesday, February 27, 2008

By LOU HIRSH and JACK KATZANEK
The Press-Enterprise

PDF: State's list of Hallmark meat recipients over the last two years: A state Department of Public Health spokeswoman said Tuesday how many companies on the list actually have Hallmark meat is unknown. Inland Region | Southern California

As grocers rushed to remove recalled beef products from their shelves during the largest food recall in American history, Inland shoppers said they are concerned about food safety and want government health inspectors to do a better job.

Anna Alfaro, of Riverside, said she has not bought any beef since she saw a secretly taped Humane Society video showing two workers at the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino forcing sick or injured cows to stand so they could be slaughtered. Such cows are not allowed in the food supply to protect against mad cow disease and other contagious ailments.

Hallmark recalled 143 million pounds of meat and products containing beef following the release of the video. The company has shut down its operations and two workers face cruelty charges in San Bernardino County. The Humane Society said lax inspections by federal officials allowed the abuse to happen.

"I think the government inspectors need to get more involved in what they say they're supposed to do," said Alfaro, 49, as she left a Riverside Stater Bros. Market on Wednesday. "Right now, I don't think they do."

Florence Anastasoff, 81, of Redlands, said she understands that there are no reports of anyone getting sick from meat produced at the Chino slaughterhouse but she takes this seriously.

"It's the impression you get that the meat might be dangerous," said Anastasoff, in the parking lot of a Redlands shopping center that has Vons and Trader Joe's locations.

Since Friday, some supermarket chains serving the Inland area -- Albertsons, Ralphs, Vons and Stater Bros. -- have been removing products that may contain meat from Westland, following a Class II recall announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Class II refers to instances involving a potential health hazard, where there is a remote probability of health problems if food is eaten. The recall is considered voluntary. The USDA has not issued a list of recalled grocery products.

Laura Reiser, a spokeswoman for the USDA in Washington, said Westland/Hallmark is responsible for notifying vendors, manufacturers and distributors. Reiser said the USDA is still checking to see that Westland/Hallmark has fulfilled its responsibility.

Stater Bros. Chairman Jack Brown said his company has received scattershot notifications since Friday from the USDA, and some food manufacturers, including ground beef supplier Moran and ConAgra, which makes Hunts products, about which food needs to be pulled. He has not heard from Westland/Hallmark.

The USDA does share information on recalled products but does not maintain a formal list during Class II recalls, Reiser said.

Brown said the Westland situation likely will prompt grocery industry groups such as the Food Marketing Institute, of which he is a member, to call on the federal government to centralize and streamline not only oversight of suppliers but the way consumers are informed about product recalls.

"If the customers can't be ensured of the safety of their food, where does it end?" he asked.

Product Variables

Terry O'Neil, spokesman for Kroger-owned Ralphs, said that not all grocers stock the same varieties of the same products. Also, whether products are affected by the recall depends on where and when the goods were produced.

For example, Brown said Stater Bros. does not carry the two Hot Pockets sandwich varieties affected by the recall.

In the Inland area, Vons and Stater Bros. have pulled from their shelves two types of Progresso Italian Wedding Soup made by General Mills.

The affected soups are the 18.5-ounce Progresso Italian Wedding soup, with a code date of "12 Oct. 09 through 08 Nov 09"; and Progresso Microwavable Italian Wedding Soup, 15.25 oz., with the code date "best if used by Jan. 5 2009," according to the grocers.

Lilia Rodriguez, a Southern California regional spokeswoman for Supervalu-owned Albertsons, said the grocer on Friday removed two varieties of Hot Pockets sandwiches made by Nestle USA. They are Hot Pockets Philly Steak & Cheese; and Hot Pockets Croissant Crust Philly Steak and Cheese.

The product code numbers were not available, so consumers should take back any of those Hot Pockets to their grocers.

Also, Albertsons and Stater Bros. on Friday pulled containers of ground beef patties from Los Angeles-based supplier Moran, after being informed directly by that company. Brown said Stater Bros. on Tuesday pulled Farmer John's Beef Franks, 16 oz., and Juanita's Albondigas Soup (29.5 ounce) on Tuesday after receiving notices from their respective manufacturers.

O'Neil said Ralphs has pulled Banquet Dinner Macaroni and Beef; First Choice Meat Lasagna; Hunts spaghetti sauce with ground beef; and Hunts Manwich Original Sloppy Joe with ground beef.

The Hunts recalls impact only products with batch codes 21027283, 21027284, 21027298, 21027299, 21027305 and 21027306.

Roz O'Hearn, spokeswoman for Nestle Prepared Foods Co. in Solon, Ohio, said the recall affected a "minuscule" portion of its production of Hot Pockets, and affected none of the company's other brands, including Stouffers and Lean Cuisine.

"We're affected, but in a very minor way," said O'Hearn, noting the recall included a total of about 48,000 cases of the two styles of Hot Pockets.

O'Hearn said the affected Hot Pockets were produced over the course of two days at a facility in Chatsworth operated by a subcontractor that used Hallmark among several meat suppliers. "It was one production line in one factory," she said.

All the big-chain stores serving the Inland region will refund or exchange the affected products at the location where they were purchased, officials said.

Spinach, Lettuce Recalls

Kathryn Cullen, a consultant with Kurt Salmon Associates, which advises retail and grocery firms, said the recalls come at a bad time for food suppliers and grocers, after previous scares over spinach, lettuce and other fresh produce.

Consumers will be calling for more oversight, but stores are caught in the middle as to what can be done. Action will likely have to be taken by the federal government to tighten oversight on companies that subcontract to food suppliers.

"The stores could possibly do more to scrutinize their (direct) suppliers, but it goes much further back in the food chain," Cullen said.

Jim Lichte, 61, of Riverside, shopping at the Ralphs at the Canyon Crest Towne Centre, said he buys ground beef about once a week and lately has been keeping some processed foods, such as Hot Pockets, in the house because his wife is recovering from surgery.

"I'm always concerned about it," Lichte said of the food safety process. "I feel meat processing plants are not inspected as often, and maybe not as diligently, as they should be. If the USDA says it's understaffed, then staff 'em. The public's health is too critical to be glossed over."

Amy Kedebe, 33, of Redlands, who had her 1-year-old son with her as she loaded groceries into her trunk Wednesday morning, said she tries to buy organic food when possible -- and vowed to eat more chicken.

"You put so much trust in government inspections, and then it fails like that," Kedebe said. "It's a concern, especially when I feed this to my children."

Darrell Stephenson, 33, a freelance chef based in Loma Linda, said he doesn't notice much change in the public's eating habits over the past few weeks. He did say he noticed that beef is about 5 percent more expensive.

Stephenson said if meat is properly prepared diners shouldn't have to worry.

Reach Lou Hirsh at 951-368-9559 or [email protected]

Reach Jack Katzanek at 951-368-9553 or [email protected]
 
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