USDA Should Improve Procedures for Helping Schools Manage Food Recalls, Witnesses Tell House Education Committee
Administration’s Flawed Recall Procedures Created Avoidable Challenges for Schools

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture did not provide adequate support to help school districts track, handle, and dispose of tainted beef in the wake of the largest meat recall in U.S. history, witnesses told the House Education and Labor Committee today.

The USDA issued the recall last month after a U.S. Humane Society investigation revealed that meat from non-ambulatory (or “downer”) cows at a California meatpacking company had been allowed to enter the food supply. Federal law prohibits meat from downer cows from entering the food supply because it poses a greater risk of salmonella and e.coli contamination and mad cow disease. More than a third of the tainted meat – more than 50 million pounds – had gone to federal nutrition programs, including to schools.

“This incident raises very alarming questions about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ability to monitor the safety of meat in this country – including the meat that is being served to children in the National School Lunch program,” said U.S. Rep George Miller, the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “Schools and parents should have every assurance that the food supplied to their kids’ cafeterias by the federal government is safe. It is unacceptable that the USDA so completely failed to do its job.”

At the request of Miller and other Democratic lawmakers, the U.S. Government Accountability has initiated an investigation into the safety of foods in the National School Lunch Program. Today’s hearing was the first congressional examination into how beef recall affected school districts around the country.

The USDA’s communications and recall procedures made it harder for schools to understand and comply with the recall, explained Dora Rivas, the Director of Child Nutrition for schools in Dallas, Texas, whose district is still working to dispose its recalled meat. In one instance, the USDA issued a press release before providing school districts with updates on how to dispose of tainted meat: “It is unfortunate that press release information went out for public release before official information and instructions arrived to food service directors via the USDA/state communications allowing little time to prepare for media and public response.”

Rivas also expressed concerns with the various costs that districts have incurred while dealing with the recall. “Some of the non-reimbursable expenses we have incurred are overtime costs and administrative expenses. Again I am concerned about what happens in the small districts where they do not have the resources to respond and absorb the costs,” Rivas said.

Penny Parham, the Administrative Director for the Department of Food and Nutrition for Miami-Dade public schools, called for USDA to increase reimbursements to schools facing increased costs due to the recall: “As a result of the recall and removal of all beef from the menu, our food service program incurred additional costs because we had to increase our inventory in order to replace those items on the menu that were made with beef. The USDA should assist school food service programs that have been hit hard by rising food and labor costs.”

In addition to discussing the beef recall, witnesses at the hearing made recommendations on how Congress should improve the overall quality and safety of federal school nutrition programs during the upcoming reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which will expire in 2009.

Kenneth Hecht, the Executive Director of California Food Policy Advocates, discussed new research showing that more than half of the food commodities, such as meat, that schools receive through USDA go through processing before being sent schools, which can decrease foods’ nutritional value. Currently, no government agency oversees the nutrition quality of commodities that are processed. “In some cases, USDA-purchased products are sent to processors where the foods take on fat, sodium, and sugar that are counterproductive to the students’ health. Considerations of nutrition quality, then, as well as food safety, may argue for greater oversight of what goes on in commodity processing,” he said.

Mary Hill, the President of the School Nutrition Association, who also voiced concerns with the USDA’s interactions with schools during the recall, urged Congress to expand and streamline the school meal programs, increase federal reimbursements to help schools improve nutrition, and create consistent, national nutrition standards for school meals. “The children in California need the same nutrients for healthy development that are needed by the children in South Dakota and Florida,” she explained. “Hungry children can’t learn and you can’t compete in a world economy without an education.  An educated workforce is the backbone of the country and the school nutrition programs are vital to our success.”

Kathleen Corrigan, the Director of Food and Nutrition Services for the Mt. Diablo Unified School District in Concord, California, highlighted her district’s efforts to provide students with healthy school breakfast options: “We believe breakfast is critical for every student in order to start the day ready to learn. We have expanded the number of high quality, nutritious menu offerings to include more fresh fruit, whole grain cereals and breads, and low fat dairy products.”

To see all of the testimonies from today’s hearing, click here.

For more information on the beef recall, click here.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
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