Yesterday’s [non-front page] news reported a California meat packer Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company is voluntarily recalling 65 MILLION kilograms of beef.
According to the U.S. Human Society, the company workers were abusive in forcing “downer cattle” (cattle who refuse to stand, it is implied, due to illness) up to pass inspection for the slaughter process by way of becoming the meat people eat. The “get up” techniques included using electric prods, forklift blades for ramming, or water-hosing them to simulate drowning (the animal version of the infamous, torturous water-boarding).
The US Department of Agriculture’s laws stipulate, where cattle are down, packers must obtain veterinarian decision whether the animal is healthy enough to continue into the food chain intended for us humans. It is not up to the packers to decide as the rule exists to help prevent human exposure to certain cow-carried diseases, such as BSE aka “mad cow” which is linked to the human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. But apparently the packers in this case weren't consulting any vets.
Today's news [even more deeply embedded in the newspaper] says USDA officials downplay the risk to Americans; USDA believes people have only a remote chance of adverse health effects.
Why did everyone involved in the process – the packers, the inspectors, the management -- turn a blind eye? Production? Profit? Greed? Stupidity? Fear? Apathy? Ignorance?
Why did no one care about the consumer? Is it so hard to care about people like themselves: families, friends, neighbours, but not least the nation's children, given a portion of the meat was purchased for federal nutrition programs?
Why did no one care about the law?
What bothers me is how strongly this underscores the extent we in North American blindly trust the processes, trust the people, and the laws in place protecting us from this and other questionable practices in the food industry chain. When 65 million kg of beef are being recalled and people’s worries are assuaged by officials declaring a “minor risk of illness from eating the beef,” you can bet a whole lot of people will be reviewing their meat choices. Yes, it's rare, but if you contract vCJB, for example, it's fatal.
At what point does the lack of trust translate into lack of sales and a diminishing market? Not soon enough, in my opinion.
The instance above describes one event happening in the States. For Canadian information, visit these portions of the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada
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