Health

Schools Suspend Serving Beef After Abuse Of Cows

(WCCO) Some Twin Cities Schools did not serve hamburgers to thousands of students, taking beef off their school lunch menus. The move comes after the release of disturbing video that shows cattle being abused in a meat packing plant.

The California plant supplies beef to school districts in nationwide, including St. Paul Public Schools.

The shocking video shows sick cattle being abused. An investigator with the Humane Society of the United States shot the footage at Westland Hallmark Meat Packing last fall.

The group said it shows cattle too sick to walk are being prodded violently so that they will get to their feet in order to pass inspection. The United States Department of Agriculture is investigating the accusations.

"Where are my inspectors as far as doing there anti-mortem, and humane handling of inspection activity? Where are they in relation to where these events occurred?" asked Kenneth Petersen of the USDA.

If the allegations prove to be true, there will also be a health concern. Since 2000, the USDA does not allow cattle too sick to walk to enter the food supply. Those animals could potentially carry mad cow, E. coli or other diseases.

In the meantime, as directed by the USDA, the Minnesota Department of Education said it sent a letter to school districts statewide to put a hold on beef from Westland Hallmark.

"This is an extra precaution. We want you to know there has been a hold on meat. And I would think that districts will take that precaution," said Alice Seagren, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education.

St. Paul Public Schools pulled hamburgers and all beef items from its menus today because they had received meat from that company.

"I think the schools could be paying closer attention to obviously anything that they are serving the kids, but especially something that could carry a disease that could make them sick," said Jill Curran, parent.

The Department of Education isn't sure just yet what other districts have Westland Hallmark beef. They're looking into it and expect to find a few.

However, the department believes individual school districts can look at boxes of beef and determine for themselves if they have this product.

 

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