USDA ineffective in protecting consumers from bad food

THE ISSUE A California company has recalled 143 million pounds of raw and frozen beef, the largest recall in U.S. history.

Federal agriculture officials say they don't think the meat withdrawn in largest beef recall in U.S. history presents much of a health threat. They can't say for sure, but since most of the beef has already been eaten and there haven't been outbreaks of infections or disease that they know of, they are comfortable with that assumption.

They also can't say that all of the beef from a California meat company will be removed from the consumer stream because so much of it has been mixed with products, such as burrito and taco filling, and gone to distributors through a "huge pipeline" that makes tracing difficult, if not impossible.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has managed to determine that some of the meat -- about 37 million of 143 million recalled pounds -- went mostly to schools for lunch programs. Hawaii got 360,000 pounds from Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. the last year, but as for the 275,800 pounds shipped in for the current school year, officials can't say how much, if any, came from the company. Schools should err on the side of caution.

The USDA would not have even known of potential problems had not the Humane Society of the United States released a video showing workers at the meat plant brutally abusing cattle too weak to stand or walk, and sending them to slaughter despite prohibitions. These "downer cows" are banned from the food supply because their poor conditions indicate illnesses such as mad cow disease, a disorder that eats away at the human brain.

At first, the department said it was sure none of these animals were processed, confident of its inspection system, but now acknowledge the plant did not follow regulations.

The USDA itself can't demand a recall, but instead withdrew its requisite inspectors from the plant, effectively forcing the company to shut down.

Department officials say they are sure what happened at Westland was an isolated occurrence, that inspections at the more than 6,200 other plants under their jurisdiction don't have similar problems, that safeguards are in place. That echoes what USDA said last year after 21 recalls of beef for potential E. coli bacteria contamination.

The California incident illustrates again the inadequate protection the department and government safety agencies can offer U.S. consumers and the inability to assure humane treatment of food animals. People can no longer rely on the government's say-so.