2.18.2008 9:47 PM

Beef Recall: Which Stores Sold the Meat?

Consumers Union: USDA Won't Tell

The USDA will not disclose the names of retail outlets that sold beef that has since been recalled by Westland/Hallmark in the largest meat recall in U.S. history, according to Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports.

"Currently, USDA refuses to disclose to the public the names of retail outlets involved in meat recalls," said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union. "Consumers have no way of knowing whether the store from which they've purchased their meat was involved in a recall."

Without a list of retail outlets, consumers are left to look for numbers on packages, but those packages have often been discarded, or the number may not appear on the retail package.

California is the only state to requires the disclosure of retail outlets after recalls.

Other groups have raised the alarm about gaps in U.S. law that allow sheep, pigs, goats and other animals to be slaughtered for food even if they are too sick or weak to stand. It was the slaughter of such "downer" cows that prompted the recall, but cows are the only "downer" animals that cannot be legally slaughtered.

Find this article at: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/beef-recall-47021808