|
One
of the potentially damaging effects the Hallmark/Westland
Meat Packing Co. recall could have on the U.S. meat industry
is its association with schools. Across the country, schools
have been pulling beef off their cafeteria menus and children
are questioning the safety of processed beef.
As a main supplier to USDA's National School Lunch Program,
the embattled Chino, Calif.-based processor was feeding
the nation's children, which makes the agency's emphasis
on the recall's classification as a Class II recall — –
meaning there is only a remote possibility that the beef
being recalled would cause adverse health effects if consumed
— a crucial but more difficult message to communicate.
Tom Koegel, foodservice director for North Shore Country
Day School in Winnetka, Ill., told Meatingplace.com
that although the 450-student, K-12 school does
not receive product from the National School Lunch Program,
students are not drawing the distinction.
"They are talking about it because of the way it's worded
in the news. It's not described as 'National School Lunch
Program.' It's 'school lunch' or 'meat that goes to schools.'
Not a lot of kids are privy to the fact that our school
is not on the National School Lunch Program."
The topic came to a head Tuesday, when the school served
a beef entrée for lunch. "Without even thinking about
it we did beef entrée yesterday," Koegel said. "It's
one that normally sells pretty well, and quite a few kids
weren't going for it. I heard kids saying terms like 'tainted
beef' and thought, 'Well, it's time to squash this.'"
The facts
Koegel said it was too late to remove the beef entrée
from the menu Tuesday, but the school won't be serving beef
at least until late next week, hoping the issue will blow
over by then. Meantime, the school's administrators are
trying to communicate the facts to students.
Kim Essex, vice president of communications for the National
Cattlemen's Beef Association, told Meatingplace.com
the sensitivity of the issue prompted NCBA to
immediately bombard school boards with educational information
reassuring them about the safety of beef.
"We've done interviews on more than 80 [TV and radio] stations,"
Essex said. "It's important that the industry's story is
shared through the media. We're certainly looking long term
about our relationship with schools and how we can fortify
their confidence in the safety of beef."
Meantime, retailers are telling NCBA that their sales have
remained steady. "They're not seeing any impact from this,"
Dr. Bo Reagan, NCBA's vice president of research and knowledge
management, told Meatingplace.com . He
said the most important message to relay to consumers is
that no illnesses have been reported, "and the reason for
that is we've got the right safeguards in place."
On hold
Of the 143 million pounds of beef recalled by Hallmark,
37 million pounds went to schools in at least 36 states
and other federal nutrition programs between February 2006
and October 2007.
"The consensus here is that almost all this product is likely
to have been consumed," said Ron Vogel of USDA's the Food
Nutrition Service. "That product which was not consumed
that has gone to domestic nutrition assistance programs
is already on hold."
Janet Riley, senior vice president of public affairs for
the American Meat Institute, told Meatingplace.com
the Hallmark incident "has been reported by the
media in a very emotional way," but it has provided industry
the opportunity to educate the public about the actual lengths
to which it goes to handle animals humanely and produce
safe food.
"When we have opportunities to engage in this sort of direct
communications, we've seen consumer confidence hold firm
and even increase," Riley said. "We certainly hope that
will be the case here."
|
