Hawaii schools that got recalled beef identified
Associated Press
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LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a list Thursday of all school districts nationwide that received beef included in last month's recall of 143 million pounds of beef from a California slaughterhouse.
The Hawai'i schools that were on the list included:
The 226-page document listed so-called "school food authorities" — the rough equivalent of school districts — that received the meat. It was released after pressure from federal lawmakers, including Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Conn.
DeLauro called the list a victory for children's health, but said the USDA should also release a complete list of retail stores that received the recalled beef.
"There is no reason other than the (meat) industry holding back the USDA," she said in a phone interview. "There is no reason why we shouldn't get that information."
A USDA spokeswoman did not immediately return an e-mail requesting comment.
The agency issued the largest beef recall in U.S. history last month after the Humane Society of the United States released undercover video showing workers at Chino-based Hallmark/Westland Meat Co. forcing sick cows to stand with forklifts, electric prods and high-pressure water hoses.
The slaughterhouse was a major supplier of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program.
Many state and local agencies and school districts had previously told the public which schools had received recalled meat, but Thursday's list was the first complete disclosure by the USDA.
A cover sheet accompanying the list said that the USDA had compiled it by relying on state lists. The memo also noted that because the recall covered a two-year period, students at any one school on the list may not have consumed potentially tainted beef.
The memo also noted that the inclusion of a school food authority in the list didn't necessarily mean that all schools within that district had received the beef.
