Congressional hearing highlights beef recall problems for schools
Local school districts got incomplete—and, at times, tardy—information about last month's massive beef recall, several school administrators told Congress on Tuesday. Testifying before a House of Representatives committee that's looking at ways to improve the safety and nutrition of school meals, Doris Rivas, director of nutrition for Dallas schools, said she first was under the impression that the district "did not have any of the product in question," only to learn weeks later that it did. "I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for smaller schools that do not have the staff of a large school system," she said. That complaint was echoed by Mary Hill, president of the School Nutrition Association, who said that many school districts didn't get timely notice of the recall and had to fend off calls from anxious parents. Federal officials recalled 143 million pounds of beef last month after the Humane Society of the United States released undercover video showing workers at a California slaughterhouse trying to force sick and crippled cows to stand—and be led to slaughter. Hill told House committee members that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) needs to improve its communications system and that schools need "better guidance and more training" about recalls. Kate Houston, USDA's deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, defended the agency's response, saying that it uses a "rapid alert system," an automated, Web-based tool to relay emergency information to recipients, and worked with the federal Department of Education to send recall information to every school district across the country. But she also said Tuesday that the agency still doesn't know the total number of affected schools. About 94 percent of the beef from the California slaughterhouse—just more than 50 million pounds—went to the national school lunch program. The districts also pleaded for reimbursement for the purchase and disposal of the beef. Houston said the agency would reimburse districts "pound for pound" for the beef purchased and reimburse them for disposing of the suspect beef.
Source: Contra Costa Times, 3/5/08, By Lesley Clark (McClatchey)