District Responds to Beef Alert
February 1, 2008 05:03 PM
In response to concerns about the safety of beef supplied by the Westland and Hallmark Meat Packing Companies, the Corvallis School District has set aside all meat purchased from these sources. The two companies under investigation are major suppliers of beef to the national school lunch program. Currently, there are no reports of children becoming ill from eating the beef. However, as a precaution, federal and state officials have requested that all school programs put a hold on using any of the suspect beef products until further testing is completed.
Sharon Gibson, Corvallis School District Food and Nutrition Services Director, stated today that the district has ordered replacement beef from other safe sources to use in the interim.
“Future menu offerings will contain beef from the new suppliers, and is safe to eat. Our children’s safety and nutrition are our first priority," Gibson added.
School cafeterias in Oregon received more than 170,000 pound of beef from the Southern California meat packing company that was barred this week from supplying school lunchrooms. The action was taken in response to video footage that revealed workers at Hallmark mistreating sick cows to force them into the slaughterhouse.
Federal officials have stated that there is no evidence the beef is unsafe, but federal laws were violated in the processing, and beef products are being tested to ensure they are safe.
