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Beef recall spurs school districts to destroy supplies
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School districts in California will destroy any beef recalled this week over charges of animal abuse and concerns about safety, using guidelines issued by the state.
The districts will be reimbursed for any beef they destroy, said Jack O'Connell, state public superintendent of schools. The state planned to issue reimbursement forms Tuesday.
"Thankfully, there have been no reports of illness among California students who may have eaten the beef over the past several months," O'Connell said in a statement. "However, I remain very concerned about the recall and the safety of the food supply."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is recalling 143 million pounds of beef processed by the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., based in Chino, which provided meat to school lunch programs. The recall is the largest in U.S. history.
Earlier this month, a video revealed that Westland/Hallmark workers kicked and shocked cows that could no longer walk as they prepared them for slaughter. At that time, local school districts either stopped serving beef or used up whatever supplies they had.
The Ventura Unified School District stopped serving beef, even though "there probably was not a health risk," said Sandy Curwood, director of child nutrition.
Now districts have started buying beef from other companies approved by the Department of Agriculture.
"We're serving it because that's what kids want," said Joe Cook, director of child nutrition for the Conejo Valley Unified School District.
Meanwhile, the recall has raised awareness, Cook said. "More people will be asking what processors do in their plants," Cook said. "We will have a consumer who is more knowledgeable, and that's a good thing."
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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