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SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced today he had a telephone discussion with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Ed Schafer regarding continued efforts to safeguard the food supply offered to 3.1 million California students in the National School Lunch Program.

Schafer was in Monterey Friday to speak before the National Meat Association's Board of Directors and to tour the Dr. Martin Luther King Academy's school nutrition program in nearby Salinas.

"I wanted Secretary Schafer to know I appreciated his swift action in addressing the awful allegations of inhumane treatment of cattle at a processing plant in Chino and how it might affect the safety of the food supply to California students," said O'Connell. "The Secretary and I both agreed we will not tolerate any potential threat to the safety of the food we serve to children in the National School Lunch Program, and I assured him that both our agencies will continue to work closely to make sure the food is nutritious and safe."

Last Sunday, the USDA recalled 143 million pounds of raw and frozen beef products produced by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company following allegations of inhumane treatment at the company of non-ambulatory disabled cattle that may be associated with illness. Federal regulations prohibit cattle in such condition from entering the food supply. Hallmark/Westland is reportedly one of the nation's largest suppliers of beef to the National School Lunch Program designed to provide students with nutritious meals.

The USDA initially placed an administrative hold on the beef in late January. Immediately thereafter, the California Department of Education issued an information alert to school districts not to use any of the beef. The USDA subsequently ordered the recall and provided school districts further instructions on how to destroy the beef and file forms to seek reimbursement from the National School Lunch Program. More than half of California's nearly 6.3 million students qualify for free or reduced-priced meals under the federal program. About four million such meals are served to students each school day for breakfast and lunch.

"The recall stemmed from inhumane treatment of animals and not from food safety concerns, so thankfully there have been no reports of illness among California school children," added O'Connell. "However, the recall was absolutely a necessary precaution to assure that all students have access to safe and nutritious food."

For more information on the USDA recall, please visit USDA Actions [http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=usda_actions.xml] (Outside Source). For more information on actions by the California Department of Education, please visit Information on Meat Recall.