Tainted beef not served in DeKalb schools
by Brian Egeston
be@brianwrites.com
When the USDA recalled 143 million pounds of beef, some of the tainted meat had reached DeKalb County schools. School officials now say that the beef recently shipped to the DeKalb school system was not prepared or served in any DeKalb school.
The beef originated from Hallmark/Westland Meat Company in Chino, Calif. Thirty-seven school systems in Georgia purchased products containing the recalled beef.
DeKalb County schools were notified by the Georgia Department of Education who then informed the school system of the proper procedure for destroying the beef.
School systems that follow the USDA protocols for destroying the beef will be reimbursed for the cost of destroying the beef.
"We have to verify that the recalled beef that the systems still had was discarded according to USDA regulations. We are continuing to do that," said Dana Tofig, from the Georgia Department of Education. "So far, the response has been very good."
The 165 schools in DeKalb serve more than 165,000 students five days a week.
Tofig said the effort to contain the meat in schools was the result of cross-functional communications.
"The state is really serving as a clearinghouse for information, and I think we’ve done a good job of getting information to our school systems as quickly as we have received it. There have been recalls before, although very few this widespread. But our nutrition directors at the state and local level know how to handle recalls when they come up."
Approximately 6,300 cases of beef from Hallmark/Westland reached the 37 Georgia school systems. Each case contained 60 pounds of beef. There were no reports of illnesses in Georgia school systems from the contaminated beef, according to the Georgia Department of Education.
When DeKalb schools received the recall alert, officials placed the meat on hold and substituted other menu items for the bad beef.
"Every recall is a unique situation," Tofig added. "But from our perspective, it’s important that we serve as a conduit of information and support for our local systems. We know that in situations like this speed is crucial and as quickly as we get information, we pass it along."
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