Commentary: Telling the true story of beef production

Issue Date: February 27, 2008

By Jim Maxey

On Feb. 17 the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co., a Chino establishment, is voluntarily recalling approximately 143 million pounds of beef products produced since February 2006 because evidence shows they were produced in non-compliance with FSIS regulations.

This beef recall is the largest in industry history. It is important for consumers to understand the nature of the recall and its designation as Class II. The possibility of adverse health effects from consuming beef included within the recall is extremely remote. The recall was issued in an abundance of caution and only as a precautionary measure.

Consumers deserve the safest food possible and all segments of the beef industry take that commitment seriously. The California Beef Council supports efforts to ensure that animals are harvested under humane conditions and all food safety regulations are followed.

The ban on non-ambulatory or "downer" cattle is one of many interlocking safety procedures designed to ensure that the U.S. beef supply is the safest in the world. The system is designed so that if there is a failure in one step, other interlocking safeguards are in place to ensure public health. From stringent feeding guidelines to safety interventions at the processing level, there are multiple safety hurdles in the beef production chain. Even though bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is virtually non-existent in the U.S. cattle population, the government and beef industry have taken steps necessary to make sure we produce beef in a way to ensure the disease never enters the food chain.

BSE infectivity exists only in nervous tissue such as the spinal cord and brain of older animals diagnosed with this rare disease. Beef processors are required by law to eliminate specified risk materials from the food supply. This step takes place with every animal to ensure this diminishing disease has no effect on public health.

As an organization committed to the betterment of the beef industry, we are supportive of actions to address violations of humane animal handling regulations, as well as established beef safety inspection procedures. The California Beef Council's members and staff are extremely concerned by the inhumane treatment of animals that was demonstrated in the video footage that prompted this recall. Our members represent all segments of the California beef industry, and it is important for the public to understand that this situation is an isolated incident, and something that our industry wholeheartedly disapproves and will not condone.

(Jim Maxey is a beef processor with operations based in Fresno and the current chairman of the California Beef Council.)

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item. Top