02/20/08 Massive beef recall

Thousands of cases of frozen beef now stored by Idaho public schools will have to be disposed of as part of the massive recall of Westland Meat Packing Company products. 143 million pounds of beef was recalled earlier this week after a surveillance video showed crippled and sick cattle passing through inspection. Bo Reagan of the National Cattleman's Beef Association said after an initial inspection regulations require a second inspection in a case where the animal's physical condition has changed. It is the company's responsibility to request this second inspection. REAGAN "It would have been tagged. They would have been kept separate in that plant and they have a wire cage in the cooler of those plants. If you have a suspect animal when its slaughtered you put it in there and USDA puts a lock on it to protect those animals from getting into the food chain but they did not." None of the recalled meat made it to Jack in the Box restaurants in Idaho according to media reports and Supervalu says it doesn't have any in its stores. Some school districts know they have the recalled beef and several are taking steps to get rid of it. USDA doesn't think the meat is a health hazard but they advise that it be buried underground rather than tossed into a dumpster where someone could get to it. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott