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SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today announced more information will be sent to all California school districts on the proper method of destroying recalled ground beef from the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company and how to seek reimbursement.

"I applaud the United States Department of Agriculture for taking swift action in recalling beef from Westland Meat," said O'Connell. "Today, I am directing the California Department of Education's Nutrition Services Division to send out more information to our schools about the proper procedure on how to destroy any Westland meat they find at their schools and how they may be reimbursed through the National School Lunch Program."

The schools must first follow local rules on the destruction of the recalled Westland meat. The information the school districts will receive today will contain a form they need to file to seek reimbursement from the federal program.

"Our understanding is that once the USDA reimburses the California Department of Education, then we will then expedite our reimbursement to schools that incurred expenses in paying for National School Lunch Program food that then had to be destroyed," added O'Connell. "Our Nutrition Services Division will work closely with the school districts to seek reimbursement as quickly as possible.

"Thankfully, there have been no reports of illness among California students who may have eaten the beef over the past several months. However, I remain very concerned about the recall and the safety of the food supply. I will not tolerate any potential threat to the safety of the food we feed out students under the National School Lunch Program."

About half of California's nearly 6.3 million students qualify for free or reduced-priced meals. California schools serve four million such meals a day to students, including breakfast and lunch.

The USDA issued an administrative hold on the Westland meat last month. For more information , please visit USDA Release No. 0046.08 [http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2008/02/0046.xml] (Outside Source) and USDA Questions and Answers [http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2008/02/0048.xml] (Outside Source). Immediately after, O'Connell sent an informational alert to schools to hold the meat until further notice, including commodity beef if schools had any questions about the origin of the meat. Commodity beef means the meat is processed through more than one handler before it is eaten. For more information, please visit Statement on Westland Meat Company.

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Attachments

Information Alert: USDA Administrative Hold (Posted 01-Feb-2008)
Information Alert: USDA Administrative Hold Extension (Posted 08-Feb-2008)
Information Alert USDA Administration Recall (New; Posted 11-Mar-2008)
Destruction Verification and Reimbursement Form (Posted 21-Feb-2008; DOC; 37KB; 1p.)
School Food Authorities Affected by the Recalled Beef [http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/safety/Hallmark-Westland_byState.pdf] (Outside Source; PDF; 357KB; 226pp.)