Posted February 14, 2008 ; 12:30 p.m.
Schools hold potentially tainted meat
Jackson, Barrow, Gwinnett schools may have received meat
BY KERRI TESTEMENT AND KRISTI REED
The Jackson County School System is one of 30 school systems in Georgia that confirmed this week that it received meat from a slaughterhouse being investigated by federal authorities.
On Wednesday, the Georgia Department of Education (DOE) said 28 school systems admitted to receiving “questionable” meat from the Westland Meat Company in California. Two more school systems were added to the list on Thursday.
The Barrow and Gwinnett county school systems are also named to the list.
The Georgia Department of Education said the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alerted schools on Jan. 31 that an advocacy group filmed a “downer cow” at the Westland Meat Company.
A “downer cow” is a cow that cannot walk, one of the primary signs of Mad Cow disease.
Georgia school system superintendent Kathy Cox said there has been no connection with the “questionable” meat with Mad Cow disease.
“At this (time), there is no evidence that any meat was actually tainted or if there was tainted meat that any school system received it,” Cox said Wednesday during a press conference.
After the USDA notified the state department of education about its investigation, all school systems were immediately notified. The Georgia DOE later received information that included lot numbers from the three processing plants whose products may have contained meat from Westland.
Jackson County food service director Wanda Oliver said the county school system received two cases of hamburger patties from JTM, one of the plants that processes meat from Westland. There are 60 patties in each case, she said.
Immediately after receiving a notice from the DOE, the hamburger patties were placed on hold and not served to students, Oliver said.
“This is a hold, not a recall,” Oliver said.
The USDA has suspended operations at the California plant until the agency completes its investigation. Additional findings are expected on Tuesday, Feb. 19.
Oliver said Jackson County officials have no reason to suspect the meat is tainted. There have been no reports of foodbourne illnesses, she added.
Terri Cato, Barrow County school nutrition director, said the school system received four cases of beef identified in the USDA alert. The Barrow County schools also received the meat from JTM.
According to Cato, only two Barrow schools received the ground beef, but none had been served and no illnesses have been reported.
“JTM told us, this is not a recall and it’s not a food safety issue,” Cato said. “It’s just a precautionary measure.”
“Our kids are safe. When we get a recall, I immediately send it straight to my managers and they immediately look at the product that is on recall or hold and then they let me know. If there is something out there, we put big red flags on it and don’t serve it,” Cato said.
Oliver said she has the similar method of notifying school cafeteria managers in Jackson County when they receive a recall notice.
Sloan Roach, executive director of communications and media relations for Gwinnett County Public Schools, said Gwinnett County schools use two of the products placed on hold — taco filling and rotini with meat sauce.
“We received word Jan. 31 that there was going to be a hold and within 30 minutes alerted all of our cafeterias to put the items aside,” Roach said.
“At this time there is no evidence that the two products bought by Gwinnett are at any risk. However, the items from the vendor have been put aside until the USDA completes its investigation. Right now, we’re just waiting for direction from the USDA and the DOE,” Sloan said.
There have been no illnesses reported at any Gwinnett schools. Sloan said the hold was not due to any contamination or reports of food-borne illnesses.
GCPS placed a notice on its web site for concerned parents with information about the hold and a link to the USDA site.
“We’re very much like the general public,” Sloan said. “We’re the consumer. We’re waiting to get information on what we need to do and, until that time, none of these products will be served in our cafeterias.”
