The massive recall of beef last month thrust school cafeterias into "uncharted territory" over food safety, prompting leading food service directors to question whether the federal government's alert system is adequate to keep unsafe food off cafeteria lines.
Based on prepared congressional testimony to be delivered today, two officials with the School Nutrition Association are expected to urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to update its recall communications system.
Delays in getting complete information about the recall of 143 million pounds of beef from the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino, Calif., kept school food officials in the dark about details, officials say.
"Until all products are properly disposed, we will be traveling uncharted territory in making sure we obtain all information from all sources that are available to us," says Dora Rivas, director of child nutrition for Dallas schools.
Rivas says 12 days passed from Feb. 5, the day she heard from the state commodity office about a recall of one type of ground beef, which she pulled, to Feb. 17, the day the USDA announced the full Westland recall.
She says it wasn't until Feb. 22 that Dallas knew the full extent of the recall and pulled all of the affected beef.
USDA officials were responding to videos showing workers at the plant inhumanely handling downer cattle bound for the slaughterhouse. Federal regulations ban slaughtering cattle that can't walk for fear they're infected with mad cow disease.
The recall was the largest in USDA history. An estimated one-third of the beef was purchased for federal nutrition programs, including the National School Lunch Program, which serves about 30 million children a day.
Testimony will take place at a hearing before the House Education and Labor Committee.
School Nutrition Association President Mary Hill says in her testimony that on Feb. 17, "we did not have the information we needed to respond to the many questions we immediately received from very concerned parents."
Kate Houston, deputy undersecretary of Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, defends the agency in her testimony. The automated, Web-based alert system was activated to contact meat recipients, with repeated follow-ups, she says. The USDA also worked with the Department of Education to spread the word, she says.
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