School districts across the state are disposing of meat that was recalled recently.
An investigation into allegations that a California slaughterhouse mistreated sick cows caused the U.S. Department of Agriculture to announce the recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from Hallmark-Westland Meat Packing Co.
Across the state, about 70 percent of school districts participate in the USDA lunch program and are disposing of recalled beef products, mostly in landfills, Skip Skinner, food distribution supervisor for the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, said Thursday.
Washington officials are holding about 340,000 pounds of beef that was scheduled to be shipped, and estimate an additional 250,000 pounds of the meat will be destroyed by school districts statewide.
The districts’ disposal costs likely will be reimbursed by USDA through the state, Skinner said. He said he will work with the districts to help get rid of the meat, which will include detailed documentation of when and how it was destroyed.
Skinner said the USDA allows districts with fewer than 50 cases of the recalled beef to dispose of it by treating it so it is inedible.
In Seattle, the state’s largest district with 45,000 students, officials were filling out paperwork with King County solid waste and public health agencies to bury about 230 cases of recalled beef at the Cedar Hills landfill, schools spokesman David Tucker said.
Other districts are looking at the disposal of hundreds of cases and thousands of pounds of meat.
School and federal officials have reported no cases of illness tied to the recalled meat.
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