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Ranchers.net

Recalled beef from Chino slaughterhouse was used in 466 food products


10:05 PM PDT on Wednesday, March 19, 2008

By JANET ZIMMERMAN
The Press-Enterprise

PDF: Businesses that may have received the meat

http://www.pe.com/multimedia/pdf/2008/WestlandRecallConsolidatedRetailDistributionforWeb3-18-08.pdf


PDF: Recalled products

http://www.pe.com/multimedia/pdf/2008/AdditionalProductsContainingWestlandRecalledBeef03-14-08.pdf


From Slim Jim jerky and Jenny Craig meatloaf to Farmer John salami and Kids Cuisine frozen tacos, the list of products containing recalled meat from the now-closed Chino slaughterhouse continues to grow.

The California Department of Public Health now lists 466 types of foods sold to markets, restaurants, grocery chains, catering businesses, workplace cafeterias and other food services. The state expects the list to get longer, department spokeswoman Lea Brooks said.

"We're identifying more products in which the recalled beef was an ingredient," she said.

When the list debuted in late February, it contained products from three manufacturers. Now there are 16. The recall may not involve entire product lines. The links to affected lot numbers and retail distributors are listed on the California Department of Public Health Web site: www.cdph.ca.gov

Also growing is the list of California restaurants, markets and other retailers that may have received some of the 143 million pounds of beef from Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.

The recall, the largest beef recall in U.S. history, was triggered by an undercover video shot by the Humane Society of the United States showing employees at the plant abusing cattle and violating federal slaughter rules.

Still at issue is who will pay for the losses. Industry experts have said the value of the affected foods could reach hundreds of millions of dollars.

Westland/Hallmark President Steve Mendell testified before a congressional subcommittee last week that his company is broke and won't be able to reimburse distributors or the many schools that received his meat products through the National School Lunch Program.

The recall, which covered meat from cattle slaughtered at the plant between Feb. 1, 2006, and Feb. 2, 2008, is a class II recall, which means the chance of getting sick from the meat is remote.

In Riverside County, one restaurant was found to have some recalled meat. None has been found by public health officials in San Bernardino County, and the chances lessen as time passes, they said. Most has been consumed, destroyed or returned to the manufacturer, said Steve Van Slocum, Riverside County's deputy director of environmental health on Wednesday.

As recently as last week, Ralphs and Food 4 Less, which have 400 stores in Southern California, were removing items from shelves, said Terry O'Neill, the chains' spokesman. The stores don't carry all items on the list, and O'Neill couldn't say which ones were pulled.

"The recall is so vast," he said.

The products are being immediately removed from shelves based on notification from the manufacturer or the grocery chain's parent company, Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., and being destroyed or held for return, he said

O'Neill said all customers will be reimbursed for products that are on the list or that they are worried may be affected.

On Wednesday, three restaurants were removed from the list of retailers in the state -- which grew from 5,000 to 7,900 in the past three weeks. But some distributors turned over names of all their customers, so the state's list included some stores and restaurants that never received recalled meat.

In all, six restaurants have been deleted from the list: P.H. Wood's Brewery in Moreno Valley, the Yellow Basket restaurants in Temecula and Santa Ana, and three others in Orange County.

P.H. Wood's received a small amount of the meat from supplier American Meats in 2002. It was probably a sample, said Scott Diehl, the brewery's general manager and part owner.

A couple of customers notified him that he was on the list, and it took about a week to get the documentation, mostly letters from his suppliers of six years, to prove he wasn't receiving meat from Westland/Hallmark, Diehl said.

"The frustrating thing is having that bad name of being on the list," he said. "It looks like (the distributor) gave a blanket list."

Reach Janet Zimmerman at 951-368-9586 or [email protected]


http://www.pe.com/localnews/sbcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_D_recall20.3cf1153.html


QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS HALLMARK/WESTLAND MEAT PACKING CO.

March 6, 2008

Consumer Concerns

Q. My child/school recently consumed Hallmark/Westland products. What is the
risk to children's health?


SEE FULL TEXT ;


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2008/03/usda-questions-and-answers.html



March 16, 2008


MAD COW DISEASE terminology UK c-BSE (typical), atypical BSE H or L, and or
Italian L-BASE

http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2008/03/mad-cow-disease-terminology-uk-c-bse.html



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