It's not where's the beef, it's what's in the beef
Hard on the heels of the largest beef recall in U.S. history, CEOs have been hauled in front of lawmakers to answer a few questions.
Namely, "What on earth were you thinking?"
Over 140 million pounds of beef were recalled early in February. This was prompted after a disturbing video began circulating that showed obviously sick cattle being dragged, hauled, prodded and fork-lifted to slaughter because they were too sick to make it there of their own accord.
The risk of disease can skyrocket in meat originating from sick animals, including deadly mad cow disease.
The Department of Agriculture is quick to offer assurances that there's not a lot of risk because the animals had passed a "pre-slaughter" inspection. I'm not buying it. That pre-inspection doesn't explain the video and how sick cows ended up being slaughtered and sold.
Despite the recall, there may still be products on the market that get overlooked in the recall. A lot of the beef is shipped to wholesalers, who in turn package it under brands that weren't listed in the recall. Officials also offer the "assurance" that most of this meat has likely already been consumed. (Phew! I feel so much better now.)
And worse—this product has ended up in school lunches, putting the onus onto school systems to send home letters explaining how they got this potentially risky product dumped into their freezers. They're scrambling to show how they reacted quickly once alerted—but if there'd been no hidden video to blow the top off of this unconscionable practice, they would have never had a chance to react at all.
I think that's one of the most disturbing aspects of this story. This company, a supplier to these types of food programs (paid for by our government), knowingly skirted the law and allowed these products to pass through to children.
Maybe it's time for these companies that play fast and loose with your health— and your very life—to be dragged, hauled, prodded and fork-lifted, straight into a slaughterhouse for shoddy corporate practices.
Finally, this fiasco should serve as a reminder of the danger of contamination and food-borne illness from commercial factory dairy and meat products, which are best avoided if possible. And who wants to spend their hard-earned money in support of these types of companies, anyway!
