California lists where recalled beef was shipped


SAN FRANCISCO -- More than 5,000 California supermarkets, restaurants, retailers and school districts received meat recalled last month by Westland/Hallmark Meat -- and now a state website lists their names and locations.

California's list is one of the first attempts by a state or federal agency to publicly identify retailers and restaurants that received food that was later recalled.

The length of the list also underscores just how far one company's products can go. Westland/Hallmark had about 150 distributors who sold its beef nationwide. California's list includes only outlets in the state, and entries range from neighborhood markets to national chains to yacht clubs.

Under a state law that took effect July 1, and is believed unique to California, meat and poultry producers and distributors covered by a recall must identify their customers to state officials, who can then publicize them.

Westland/Hallmark on Feb. 17 recalled 143 million pounds of beef in the biggest meat recall ever after U.S. officials found that the Chino, Calif., company didn't always follow proper slaughter procedures with cows unable to walk.

The list, found at www.dhs.ca.gov/fdb, gives California consumers "something they've never had before," says Consumers Union's Elisa Odabashian. "All the other states are out of luck."

The Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- the two federal agencies regulating food recalls -- don't typically say where recalled products were sold because foodmakers' customers are treated as confidential business information.

Retailers are sometimes named if the recalled product is a store brand. The USDA governs meat, poultry and some egg products; the FDA, all other food.

By sometime next year, the USDA expects to begin naming retailers that sold meat before it was recalled. The goal is to help consumers find out if they bought potentially unsafe meat.

California's list is expected to grow as food companies continue checking their suppliers, says Lea Brooks of the California Department of Public Health.

In addition to the beef, companies are to pull products containing any amount of Westland/Hallmark beef. So far companies, including General Mills and Nestle, have pulled products such as soup, Hot Pockets and beef sticks.

The Westland/Hallmark beef was produced over two years. Almost a third went to federal nutrition programs including the school lunch program. No meat was found contaminated, as is typically the case with recalls. Federal officials call the health risk "remote."

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