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U.S. Justice Dept. Joins Suit Against Slaughterhouse

By PritzkerLaw

The U.S. Department of Justice has intervened on the side of the Humane Society of the United States in litigation against a southern California beef slaughterhouse that was caught on tape abusing cattle.

The lawsuit claims that the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino, California, fraudulently claimed that all cattle slaughtered at the plant were handled humanely and that no meat from so-called "downer"  cows entered the food supply. At one time, the slaughterhouse was the second-largest supplier of ground beef to the national School Lunch Program and the federal government is seeking a return of $150 million in taxpayer money.

The undercover video released last year by the Humane Society showed packing plant workers dragging cattle that were too sick to walk, shocking them with electric prods, shooting streams of water in their faces and poking downed animals with a forklift. The video led to the February 2008 recall of 143 million pounds of beef out of  fear downer cattle entered the food supply. The slaughterhouse closed after the recall and criminal charges were filed against at least one worker at the plant..

The San Jose Mercury News newspaper quoted Tony West, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's civil division, as saying: "The alleged misrepresentations by Hallmark and Westland could have impacted the health of many of our nation's most vulnerable citizens -- our schoolchildren.'' 

As the food safety lawyers at Pritzker Olsen can tell you, downer cows pose a greater public health risk, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. Firm founder Fred Pritzker and members of his firm are frequent guests and commentators about food safety issues and have been interviewed by and profiled in a number of media sources including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Associated Press, Fox News and CBS News.

To contact the firm for foodborne illness representation, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or write to us online to receive a free case consultation.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on May 13, 2009 (boomark / email).