Beef Recall Raises Food Safety Concerns
Date: Monday, February 18, 2008Suggested Lead: On Sunday, USDA issued a statement announcing a recall of 143 million pounds of beef as a result of the violations uncovered in its investigation of the Westland Meat Packing Co. J.O. (Bo) Reagan, vice president of research and knowledge management for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), explains this is a single, isolated incident. He said while the animals in question had passed an initial inspection, regulations require a second inspection in a case where the animal’s physical condition has change. It is the company’s responsibility to request this second inspection and they did not…tape
Cut #1 :38 O.C...”they did not.”
Reagan says that despite this precautionary recall, consumers can remain confident in the safety of our beef supply...tape
Cut #2 :48 O.C...”of this product.”
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
Funded by the Beef Checkoff.