Georgia schools have put on hold 178,000 pounds of beef that came from a California slaughterhouse under federal investigation for allegations that it processed cattle at higher risk of mad cow disease.
Those animals, known as "downer cattle" because they are unable to walk, are banned from the food supply.
The investigation so far has found no evidence that downer cattle were processed into beef destined for schools in 36 states and federal hunger-relief programs, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The investigation at the plant is continuing.
Twenty-four Georgia school districts, including Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties, received the beef, according to the state Department of Education.
As much as 150,000 pounds of the beef, which is used in everything from spaghetti sauce to taco fillings, was served to students before the USDA placed an administrative hold on the meat on Jan. 30, according to the state Department of Education.
Schools and a processor still have a total of 220,000 pounds left from the original shipment of 378,000 pounds. The Georgia Department of Human Resources, which received an additional 40,000 pounds of beef last summer to funnel to emergency food assistance programs, has distributed much of what it received.
The USDA has stopped operations at Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. while it investigates allegations the plant handled cattle inhumanely and processed downer cattle.
The department ordered all meat from the plant bought for federal food and nutrition programs held through Tuesday, while it continues its investigation.
The meat is on hold until authorities conclude the investigation and either release the beef for schools and other federal food programs to serve, or order it destroyed.
The investigation started after an investigator for the Humane Society of the United States videotaped plant employees poking sick cows with a forklift, shocking them and turning high-power hoses on the animals. The department has substantiated the animal welfare organization's claims of inhumane treatment.
It suspended operations at the facility on Feb. 4, after investigators found "egregious" violations of handling regulations, according to Richard Raymond, the department's undersecretary for food safety. The plant won't reopen until operators come up with a plan to ensure cattle will be handled and slaughtered humanely.
So-called mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is caused by exposure to prions found in affected animals. The beef patties and other products sent to schools can't be tested for the prions that signal the presence of mad cow disease. To check for BSE, scientists check a specific area of a cow's brain most likely to accumulate higher numbers of the prions, which may be present in muscle meat in much lower concentrations.
Fulton County schools have 840 cases of crumbled cooked beef made from Hallmark/Westland meat in a warehouse, said Fulton communications director Kirk Wilks. DeKalb has a similar amount of meat on hold, according to Valerie Bowers, who oversees food distribution for the state Department of Education.
The county has substituted items on its menus to replace the beef, and turned to suppliers who don't buy from Hallmark/Westland, said DeKalb schools spokesman Dale Davis.
The meat was shipped to Georgia between October 2007 and January 2008. The Agriculture Department put the beef on administrative hold on Jan. 30. Gwinnett schools served some of the meat before it was placed on hold, spokeswoman Sloan Roach said. Fulton and DeKalb spokesmen said their districts had not served any of the meat to students before the order.
Other metro districts with stocks of the meat include Clayton, with 1,100 cases; Gwinnett, with 900; and Cobb, with 370, said Bowers.
The Georgia Department of Human Resources also received 40,000 pounds of meat from Hallmark/Westland, which it distributed through a federal emergency food assistance program.
Much of the beef was sent out last summer, and the remaining cases are on hold, said department spokeswoman Taka Wiley.
It's unclear how schools or the state would be reimbursed for costs associated with holding the beef. If schools must order beef from other sources while the Hallmark/Westland product is on hold, the cost will come out of district budgets for now, Bowers said.
In a conference call with reporters last week, a USDA official said it's still too early in the investigation to determine what reimbursement might be available for schools, processors and others who incur costs because of the hold.
FATAL TO COWS --- AND HUMANS
Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a fatal illness that has been detected in three cows in the United States in the past four years.
Eating meat from an infected animal can cause variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a human form of the neurological illness, for which there is no treatment.
Nearly 160 people, most in the United Kingdom, have died of the illness since 1996. Symptoms do not appear until years after contaminated meat is consumed.
THE STORY SO FAR
PREVIOUSLY: Federal investigators checked into allegations that sick and injured cattle were tortured by meatpacking workers and placed into the food supply, violating regulations designed to guard against mad cow disease and to protect animal welfare.
THE LATEST: 24 Georgia school districts, including many in metro Atlanta, received the suspect beef.
WHAT'S NEXT: Federal officials to decide to either release the beef for schools to serve, or order it destroyed.
Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution