The Westland/Hallmark Meat Company, which is based out of Chino, California, issued a statement recalling 143 million pounds of tainted beef on Feb. 1. However, N.C. State students have nothing to worry about, according to University Dietician Lisa Eberhart.
Thirty-seven million pounds of the 143 million pounds recalled have been used for creating school lunches.
But Eberhart said that should not be something students at NCSU need to worry about.
“I doubt we have received any of the beef,” Eberhart said. “I know for a fact that if we did, we would have been contacted about it, and we weren’t.”
But David Bumgarner, sophomore in mechanical engineering, said he would hope that the University is 100-percent positive that tainted beef did not make it’s way into University Dining freezers.
“We should [not] just assume that we didn’t receive any of the beef, but we should actually research it and see where it came from,” he said. “It’s a way to be safe.”
Nicole Deloia, sophomore in microbiology, agreed.
“For the sake of the students, I think we should go into more detail about the meat we received and not let it slip,” she said.
There have been no cases of mad cow disease reported as of yet, but one issue stemming from this recall that has received much media coverage is the maltreatment of the cows that were slaughtered and packaged.
“I feel that the issue is more of an animal rights issue rather than a health issue,” Eberhart said. “These people relied on their suppliers, but they broke the rules.”
The rules that Eberhart is referring to are the guidelines from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States. These guidelines state that if a cow cannot walk, then it is considered to be hazardous and thus cannot be slaughtered.
Since the intro of mad-cow disease, meat-packing companies have been struggling to publicly address the use of cows that cannot walk, or downer-cows.
In a video that the Humane Society of the United States released Jan. 30, these downer-cows were seen being lifted by forklifts to walk and showed employees of the company kicking them, according to an article in the NY Times.
“These people were doing something outside of the rules,” Eberhart said. “These cows could apparently walk when they got to [the slaughterhouse], but then developed a sickness and that went unnoticed.”
In 1999 another recall ensued, from Thorn Apple Valley, which affected 35 million pounds of beef.
“I know that it is quite common,” Eberhart said. “I remember hearing of one or two happening last year in California.”
Eberhart said she hopes there will be a solution to the maltreatment and lax inspections.
“Companies and such just need to be aware of who they rely on,” Eberhart said. “Be careful and that will hopefully help the problem.”
Deloia said she also thinks change is needed.
“Something should be done about this drastic increase. Obviously people have become more slack in their jobs,” she said. “Not only are they selling this beef, but they are putting people’s lives at risk.”
Bumgarner said inspectors should face punishments when bad beef gets through their ranks.
“These people who let the cows pass by in inspection should be punished — preferably fired,” he said.