For most of the past decade, “downer” cattle were kept out of the food supply because of concern that most were older cows, which are thought to be more susceptible to disease, especially Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or Mad Cow Disease. That policy is spelled out in Food Safety and Inspection
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Hallmark-Westland Meats
Letter From The Editor: The Legislature Is Now in Session
State legislatures are now in session in almost all 50 states. While last November’s elections did not result in much change, there do appear to be some different approaches in the state houses in the realm of food safety. First, you may have read something about how well the Democrats…
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Landmark Settlement Reached in Westland-Hallmark Meat Case
The now-defunct Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. sparked the largest-ever meat recall after egregious, undercover abuse footage was made public in 2008 and now the company has sparked the largest-ever judgement for an animal abuse case. On Friday, the Humane Society of the United States announced it had reached a partial settlement…
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Central Valley Meat Company: USDA Did its Job, OK?
On August 19, 2012, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) ordered its inspection staff at Central Valley Meat (CVM) to go home. Because the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) of 1906 requires inspection by USDA to be continuous during slaughter of cattle, this USDA action essentially shuttered the plant for…
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