Hallmark/Westland in danger of closing down

Via www.marketwatch.com:

USDA orders largest meat recall: 143 mln pounds
Most of the meat probably already eaten; some went to school lunch program

By Robert Daniel, MarketWatch

The company in question, Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. of Chino, Calif., was accused of animal cruelty by the Humane Society of the U.S. An investigation by the group found the company processed cows that were too sick or injured to walk, in violation of the agriculture department's rules.
Ron Vogel, an executive with the Food and Nutrition Service, said on a conference call transcribed on the agriculture department's Web site that almost all the meat has been consumed.

The probability that anyone who ate the meat would suffer ill effects is "remote," the USDA said.

The recall is designed, however, to alert the public to the situation and enable authorities to search out any of the meat that's still on shelves or in freezers.
The U.S. government bought some of the meat for its food and nutrition programs. These include the National School Lunch Program, the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Food Assistance Program on Indian Reservations.

The government has suspended food-buying from Hallmark/Westland, Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer said in a statement.

The Hallmark/Westland plant has stopped operating and won't be able to resume operations until the company explains to the agriculture department how the violations occurred and shows that they have been corrected, the agency said.
Over two years, the department said, the company had killed cattle that had passed an initial inspection but then became disabled.

Hallmark/Westland "did not consistently contact" the veterinarian at the USDA's food-safety arm in situations in which cattle passed inspection but then became unable to walk before they were killed, the department said. The company was thus not compliant with government rules.

Those disabled animals must be removed from the food supply. Or after slaughter, the meat from them must be subject to additional inspection to ensure that the animals were not injured or became diseased after the initial pre-slaughter inspection, the agency said.

The recall grew out of an investigation by the Humane Society.
Three weeks ago, the Humane Society said it had obtained video evidence of company workers "kicking cows, ramming them with the blades of a forklift, jabbing them in the eyes, applying painful electric shocks, and even torturing them with a hose and water in attempts to force sick or injured animals to walk to slaughter."

The Associated Press reported that two former slaughterhouse workers seen in the video were charged by the San Bernardino County district attorney, one with felony and misdemeanor animal cruelty and the other with misdemeanors. They face as much as eight years and three years in prison respectively, AP reported.

The president of the meat company, Steve Mendell, said in a letter posted on the company's Web site that he had been "shocked and horrified" by the video.
The company has "implemented aggressive measures to ensure all employees follow our humane handling policies and procedures," he said, adding that the company is cooperating with USDA investigators.

The Humane Society's president and chief executive, Wayne Pacelle, in a statement, called the recall "a prudent decision." But he said that Congress and the USDA must strengthen laws to ensure humane treatment of animals at slaughter plants.
Robert Daniel is MarketWatch's Middle East bureau chief, based in Tel Aviv.