Last month, Wisconsinites woke up to the startling news that 143 million pounds of beef had been recalled from Chino, Calif.-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.
The Feb. 17 recall, the single largest of its kind in U.S. history, was prompted by gruesome undercover video from the plant depicting animals too sick or weak to stand - much less walk - being chained, dragged, fork-lifted, kicked, jabbed and dumped into America's food supply.
The severity of the incident was compounded by the fact that the investigation behind the recall was not led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture - the government agency responsible for the inspection system at meat and poultry plants - but the Humane Society of the United States, whose covert agent recorded the violations of food safety and humane treatment laws
This incident raises serious questions about the gaps in our meat inspection system, and about current laws needed to enforce standards tough enough to ensure the safety of the food we put on the table, or serve to our children in school cafeterias.
Westland/Hallmark was one of 23 slaughter plants that supplied meat to federal nutrition programs, which includes the national school lunch program administered by the USDA. The implications for the school lunch program are particularly troubling. We must remember what happens in the feedlot or slaughterhouse ends up in school lunchrooms throughout our country.
At a hearing before the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, I emphasized these concerns to Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer, pressing his commitment to a series of first steps needed to be taken to ensure food safety at our meat slaughter plants.
First, USDA must audit every single plant, making sure each facility has language-appropriate materials for its workers. Plant workers must be properly trained so there can be no confusion on the laws and handling procedures. I urge the USDA to begin by auditing the 23 plants that are contracted to supply meat to federal nutrition programs within the next 30 days or less. Plants violating these laws should be fined significantly, with their licenses to operate temporarily revoked.
In addition, we must restore the rule prohibiting all downer cattle - with no exceptions - from entering the food supply. This rule was weakened last year after being imposed by USDA in 2003, when the first reported case of mad cow disease in this country was discovered. In the Westland/Hallmark case, there is evidence that even the weaker rule was being broken. The restoration of this bright-line rule would make it easier to uniformly enforce by inspectors at plants, and more difficult for meat processing companies to conveniently interpret the law for their own ends.
Finally, there needs to be a foolproof system of monitoring slaughter plants. Allowing plant personnel to signal one another when a USDA inspector is coming is simply unacceptable. Because the camera never blinks, video monitoring systems could be an important way for USDA inspectors to be assured that violations are not occurring behind their backs at processing facilities.
Food safety always has been an important priority for me in the Senate and as the chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. In the FY2008 Agriculture Appropriations bill I secured an increase of more than $48 million toward food safety initiatives. I also worked to boost federal resources for the Food Safety and Inspection Service at the USDA for inspection of meat and poultry by $38 million.
But the Westland/Hallmark recall showed us more needs to be done to ensure the safety of our food, and we cannot rest until vast improvements are made to our meat inspection system. Money alone will not fix all of the problems. I call on USDA to work with me and my colleagues in Congress, and seize this opportunity to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
- Sen. Herb Kohl is a Democrat from Wisconsin.
The Feb. 17 recall, the single largest of its kind in U.S. history, was prompted by gruesome undercover video from the plant depicting animals too sick or weak to stand - much less walk - being chained, dragged, fork-lifted, kicked, jabbed and dumped into America's food supply.
The severity of the incident was compounded by the fact that the investigation behind the recall was not led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture - the government agency responsible for the inspection system at meat and poultry plants - but the Humane Society of the United States, whose covert agent recorded the violations of food safety and humane treatment laws
This incident raises serious questions about the gaps in our meat inspection system, and about current laws needed to enforce standards tough enough to ensure the safety of the food we put on the table, or serve to our children in school cafeterias.
Westland/Hallmark was one of 23 slaughter plants that supplied meat to federal nutrition programs, which includes the national school lunch program administered by the USDA. The implications for the school lunch program are particularly troubling. We must remember what happens in the feedlot or slaughterhouse ends up in school lunchrooms throughout our country.
At a hearing before the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, I emphasized these concerns to Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer, pressing his commitment to a series of first steps needed to be taken to ensure food safety at our meat slaughter plants.
First, USDA must audit every single plant, making sure each facility has language-appropriate materials for its workers. Plant workers must be properly trained so there can be no confusion on the laws and handling procedures. I urge the USDA to begin by auditing the 23 plants that are contracted to supply meat to federal nutrition programs within the next 30 days or less. Plants violating these laws should be fined significantly, with their licenses to operate temporarily revoked.
In addition, we must restore the rule prohibiting all downer cattle - with no exceptions - from entering the food supply. This rule was weakened last year after being imposed by USDA in 2003, when the first reported case of mad cow disease in this country was discovered. In the Westland/Hallmark case, there is evidence that even the weaker rule was being broken. The restoration of this bright-line rule would make it easier to uniformly enforce by inspectors at plants, and more difficult for meat processing companies to conveniently interpret the law for their own ends.
Finally, there needs to be a foolproof system of monitoring slaughter plants. Allowing plant personnel to signal one another when a USDA inspector is coming is simply unacceptable. Because the camera never blinks, video monitoring systems could be an important way for USDA inspectors to be assured that violations are not occurring behind their backs at processing facilities.
Food safety always has been an important priority for me in the Senate and as the chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. In the FY2008 Agriculture Appropriations bill I secured an increase of more than $48 million toward food safety initiatives. I also worked to boost federal resources for the Food Safety and Inspection Service at the USDA for inspection of meat and poultry by $38 million.
But the Westland/Hallmark recall showed us more needs to be done to ensure the safety of our food, and we cannot rest until vast improvements are made to our meat inspection system. Money alone will not fix all of the problems. I call on USDA to work with me and my colleagues in Congress, and seize this opportunity to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
- Sen. Herb Kohl is a Democrat from Wisconsin.
