March 13, 2008
By Matthew L. Wald

WASHINGTON — The president of a slaughterhouse at the heart of the largest meat recall denied under oath on Wednesday, but then grudgingly admitted, that his company had apparently introduced sick cows into the hamburger supply.

He then tried to minimize the significance.

The executive, Steve Mendell of the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company of Chino, Calif., said, “I was shocked. I was horrified. I was sickened,” by video that showed employees kicking or using electric prods on “downer” cattle that were too sick to walk, jabbing one in the eye with a baton and using forklifts to push animals around.

The video was taken by an undercover investigator from the Humane Society of the United States. One tape showed a worker using a garden hose to try to squirt water up the nose of a downed cow, a technique that Representative Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat who conducted the hearing where Mr. Mendell testified, referred to as waterboarding.

Testifying before the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Mendell, who appeared only after being subpoenaed, assured lawmakers that despite his lack of knowledge about conditions at the plant, sick animals were not slaughtered for food, so no safety issue existed.

But Mr. Mendell retracted the statement when shown a second video in which a “downer” cow was shocked and abused by workers trying to move it to the “kill box,” then finally shot with a bolt gun and dragged by a chain to the processing area.

When Mr. Mendell told the committee he was unaware of the abuses, Mr. Stupak asked him, “What’s your curiosity, as president and C.E.O. of the company you’re responsible for?”

Mr. Mendell replied that after he had seen the first video, he concluded that “it was a regulatory violation, for sure, it was inhumane treatment, for sure,” but that he did not believe it was a food safety issue until he saw the second video on Wednesday.

Mr. Stupak asked if one could conclude from the video that the cow dragged into the killing area had gone into the food supply.

“That would be logical, sir,” Mr. Mendell replied.

Mr. Mendell said he had asked for a copy of the second video but it had been refused. The president of the Humane Society, Wayne Pacelle, said, however, that the video had been on the group’s Web site since Feb. 19.

The undercover investigator for the Humane Society did not appear but Mr. Mendell found a way to make his identity public, seeking to contradict the investigator’s accusation that when he was hired at the plant, he had not received the required training in humane handling. Mr. Mendell volunteered that he had with him a form signed by the investigator acknowledging such training. (Whether the training actually occurred was not established.)

Of the 143 million pounds of beef that were recalled, about 50 million pounds went to school lunch programs or federal programs for the poor or elderly, Mr. Stupak said. But the recall covered all the meat produced for two years, Mr. Mendell said, so most of it had already been eaten.

The biggest threat from “downer” cattle is mad cow disease. The chairman of the full committee, Representative John D. Dingell, also of Michigan, said the incubation period for the human form could be 20 years.

A “downer” animal can still be slaughtered if a government veterinarian has determined the cow is fit for human consumption, but Mr. Mendell acknowledged that no veterinarian was visible on the tape.

After the testimony, Mr. Mendell’s lawyer Asa Hutchinson, a former member of Congress from Arkansas and former under secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said that Mr. Mendell still did not have all the facts about the events shown in the videotapes.

Mr. Mendell made the point that parts of the animal most likely to carry the defective protein that causes mad cow were routinely removed. “I think there is less than a minute chance of that product being contaminated,” he said.

He also produced audits from outside companies showing that the plant complied with rules on humane treatment of animals, evidence that some committee members said shook their confidence that Mr. Mendell understood the operations of his company.

The committee is considering several proposals for new procedures, including food irradiation. That would reduce the risk of contamination by E. coli, the bacterium that killed three children in a 1993 outbreak linked to the Jack in the Box restaurant chain. (Westland/Hallmark was one of the slaughterhouses closed down in that outbreak.) But it would not affect the mad cow risk.

Representative Diana DeGette, Democrat of Colorado, has proposed improving the ability to track meat back to the slaughterhouse as well as giving the Agriculture Department the authority to issue recalls. That could make it easier, she said, to catch tainted meat before it was consumed, “or preferably, to deter conduct like this.”

A spokeswoman for the Agriculture Department, Amanda Eamich, refused any substantive comment, saying that the case was still under investigation.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

The orginal article - with back story by Matthew L. Wald (mp3) - can be found here.

From The Boston Globe, An Iraqi Meal (Recipes Included).

From the Chicago Sun Times Pass the Frog Legs (Dining Out When Your Child is a True Foodie).

From the Friday, March 7, edition of the New York Daily News and great article entitled New and Natural Sweeteners are Taking on Classic Cane. There is also a comparison chart of the sweeteners mentioned in the piece. Also, 3 questions for Rachel Allen, Ireland’s most famous chef.

From the Sunday New York Times Magazine Friends with Benefits. For celebrity chefs, charity begins in the kitchen.

From The Salt Lake Tribune, Pork Shoulder: Cooked Low and Slow, it Will Melt in Your Mouth (Recipes Included!).

From Washingtonian Magazine A Night Out: Michel Richard’s 60th-Birthday Surprise Party (with Photo Gallery)

Food News for Wednesday, March 5, 2008:

Articles

From MSNBC/TODAY Show Great Values: American Wines $15 and Under (Video).

From The New York Daily News Young Chefs find their Calling highlights the great work of South Bronx Job Corps Academy.

From New York Magazine video of Chef Chris Cosentino’s Head-to-Tail Dinner at the Astor Center in New York City. Also Are You a Foodie or a Foodist?.

From The New York Times Yes, MSG, the Secret Behind the Savor. If you live in the United States and like spicy tuna rolls, Puerto Rican roast pork or Thai noodles, there is a good chance you are eating, and enjoying, MSG. Yikes! Also in the Times, Emerging, in Spain, to Warm Applause a profile of Spain’s versatile and reasonably priced Rueda wines. From The New York Times Diner’s Journal: Q and A: Chef Scott Fratangelo.

From The Philadelphia Inquirer A Chef’s Tale of Pots, Pans and POTUS. Walter Scheib cooked for the Clintons and Bushes and relates the experience in his new book White House Chef: Eleven Years, Two Presidents, One Kitchen.

From The Seattle Times The Dangers of Lead-Crystal Glassware.

From United Press International Teens: Eat Breakfast and Don’t Get Fat.

Recipes

From MSNBC/TODAY Show: Bill Telepan’s Appetizing Asparagus with Rice (Video & Recipe Included).

Spring is almost here, a great time for food enthusiasts. Happy reading! - JU

Articles

From the New York Daily News Food ideas for St. Patrick’s Day (Recipes Follow Article).

From The New York Times Coast to Coast, Restaurants That Count. Searching America to rank 10 of the country’s most acclaimed, ambitious, promising or intriguing new restaurants. Racket in the Kitchen, Ruckus in the Crib. With the right planning and a little practice, there is a way to cook dinner without waking the baby sleeping in the next room.

From The Seattle Times Food Supply at Risk in Wake of Huge Beef Recall and Absinthe: Intoxicating Mix of Legend, Liquor.

From United Press International City Condemns Food Ads Targeting Children.

From USA Today Europe’s Truffle Shortage Blamed on Global Warming. Farmers say production is down by 50-75% this winter season and they blame global warming, warning that if thermometers keep rising — as many scientists predict they could — France’s black truffle will one day be just a memory.

Recipes

From The Oregonian Beef Short Ribs with Chipotle Sauce.

From The Providence Journal Spiced Hot Chocolate.

Happy reading…and eating! - JU

“Variety’s the very spice of life that gives it all its flavour.” -William Cowper (1731-1800), English poet

ARLINGTON, Va. -(Dow Jones)- U.S. retail food prices in 2007 rose about 4%, the highest gain in 17 years, and the forecast for 2008 is for a similar rise of 3.5%-4%, an economist said Thursday.

Ephraim Leibtag, economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, said the Consumer Price Index for food has historically shown an increase of about 2.5% annually.

Contributing to the higher food prices are rising grain and oilseed prices, higher energy costs, increased exports that have reduced domestic supplies of certain commodities, and rising labor and healthcare costs, he said Thursday at the USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum.

Increases in retail meat prices are expected to be “relatively mild” in 2008 due to larger supplies. However, escalating feed costs for livestock and poultry producers will likely result in reduced production of meat and poultry by 2009, which could cause wholesale and retail prices to rise then and into 2010, Leibtag said.

The biggest gains in food prices in 2008 are seen in the oils and fats products along with grains-based foods.

Tyson Foods (TSN) recently announced its plans to raise prices across the board for poultry and meats to offset rising feed costs. Smithfield Foods (SFD) earlier this week said it will trim its hog breeding herd by 4%-5% in response to the higher feed costs and low hog prices.

By Curt Thacker; Dow Jones Newswires

Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Orginal article can be found here.