US government concludes new meat recall verification procedures needed

 

 

 

Officials came to that conclusion after an OIG audit of the FSIS' procedures following the recall of product from the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packaging Company. An OIG release said FSIS officials agreed with OIG that it needs to change some of its verification procedures and is in the process of doing so.

 

During a food recall, the FSIS contacts a statistically selected sample of companies to verify that the recalled product is being located and retrieved effectively, the OIG said. Companies contacted are selected from a master list of the company's customers and their customers.

 

Several problems arise, however, that may undermine the statistical relevance of the sample. FSIS also has not developed a process to refine such master lists before selecting samples, or issued nationwide guidance to ensure that inappropriate selections are removed and companies that received recalled product are substituted.

 

The problems include:

 

-Some companies down the distribution chain cannot identify their customers to whom they may have sold recalled product.

 

-FSIS' master list and the resulting sample can include companies that did not receive any of the recalled products, and therefore are irrelevant to determining if a recall was effective.

 

-Some establishments are unable to pinpoint when, where and to whom a particular product or lot was sent because they use non-automated recordkeeping systems like paper receipts and ledger books. In some cases, bills of sale were kept in a file box in the back of a warehouse.

 

-Some establishments use old computer software that is no longer compatible with current operating systems and software.

 

The OIG said it found that 41 percent of the companies FSIS contacted about Hallmark's recall--83 of 203--were not useful for determining the recall's effectiveness. Some did not receive the beef and some did not sell meat at all, while others were out of business.

 

OIG auditors and the FSIS agreed that the FSIS needed new guidelines on how to choose its initial list of recall customers to sample and a procedure to refine that list as the verification process went along.

 

In January 2008, the Humane Society of the United States released a video showing Hallmark employees abusing non-ambulatory cattle. In February 2008, FSIS investigated and found that Hallmark repeatedly violated federal regulations over a two-year period by slaughtering cattle that were not well enough to stand.

 

Known as downer cattle, those carry a higher risk of disease, and between February 2006 and February 2008, Hallmark may have slaughtered downer cattle and sold the meat to its customers without notifying FSIS inspectors.

 

The FSIS determined there was only a remote chance of getting sick from the meat, but the agency asked Hallmark to recall all the beef it had distributed during that time because Hallmark did not comply with regulatory inspection requirements and the downer meat may have been mixed with meat from other cattle in ground beef.

 

Hallmark agreed to recall more than 143 million pounds of beef produced in the previous two years--the largest recall in US history.