The nation's largest-ever beef recall does not affect area grocery-store chains or schools, according to several state and local sources.
And the risk for mad-cow disease in this area and the nation is small, according to a local farming educator.
"There's not a single supermarket in the nation that received that product," said Mona Golub, vice president of public relations for Golub, the company that owns the Price Chopper supermarket chain.
California-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., which is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is recalling 143 million pounds of frozen beef dating back to February 2006.
The recall is more than four times larger than one in 1999.
Most of the meat has probably already been eaten, but the risk of illness is very low, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The federal action was prompted by an undercover Humane Society video that depicted workers at the Westland/Hallmark plant allegedly abusing cattle with a forklift, prods, a water hose and kicks.
Downer _ or nonambulatory cattle _ are believed to have entered the food supply because of improper procedures at the plant, according to the USDA.
The use of downer cattle became more restricted after the emergence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in the 1980s and 1990s.
Only two cows have been diagnosed with BSE in the United States under a program in place since 2004, according to the USDA.
"I think the risk for BSE is very, very small. We have not had a domestic case of BSE in this country ever," said Mariane Kiraly, an educator with Delaware County Cornell Cooperative Extension. "They have all been animals that have been imported."
The risk of anyone getting sick from the meat is very low, Kiraly said.
"I think the USDA is trying to make a point here and trying to set an example," Kiraly said. "It's going to make consumers feel that these meat-processing plants are not doing the right thing, but I think this is a bad-apple plant."
The USDA shut down the plant Feb. 4, three days after Westland/Hallmark voluntarily suspended operations, according to the USDA.
Much of the meat produced by Westland/Hallmark was distributed to schools across the country in the form of bulk ground beef.
"Upon notification of possible violations of USDA regulations, we immediately began an investigation and placed products from this plant destined for the National School Lunch Program, the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Food Distribution Program on Indian reservations on hold," Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer said in a prepared statement issued Sunday.
The Albany Times Union reported Monday that Brad Maione, a spokesman for the state Office of General Services, said the state tracked the meat to distribution centers in Cheektowaga and Poughkeepsie. The meat was then sent to 212 schools in Orange, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Westchester, Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, the paper reported.
Maione's office, which was closed Monday for the Presidents Day federal holiday, did not immediately return a call from The Daily Star for comment.
Tom Austin, deputy superintendent of the Oneonta City School District, said Monday morning it was not known if Oneonta had received meat subject to the recall.
"We're on vacation this week," Austin said.
Austin said he would contact school staff to determine if such beef had been served to students. But he said the district receives its federal food from a USDA distribution center in Binghamton.
Ben Arato, a spokesman for Hannaford supermarkets, said the chain also does not carry the products.
"We aren't affected by that recall," Arato said.
Hannaford has a store in Oneonta.
The situation at the plant could be an example of the differences between the California and New York dairy industries, Kiraly said.
"The animals they showed on the news were obviously dairy cows," Kiraly said. "A lot of our hamburger comes from our dairy cull cows."
But the dairy farms in California tend to be much larger and more factory-like than New York farms, Kiraly said.
The plant most likely processed a massive number of cattle each day from these farms, she said.
One of the major symptoms of BSE is a cow that is nonambulatory.
"It's also a symptom of a hundred other things," she said.
The cows were most likely ambulatory when they left their farm and could have been injured en route to the meat-processing plant, Kiraly said.
But the company should have followed the rules and removed those cows, she said.
"It comes down to money, down to profits," Kiraly said.
Two employees were fired; they also face felony and misdemeanor charges in California.
"I fail to see that management could not have known what was going on," Kiraly said. "There are lots of rules. Lots and lots of rules."
Franklin dairy farmer Danny Buel said he was upset when he read about the alleged abuse in the paper.
"It's not good animal husbandry," Buel said. "Nobody wants to see animals being abused. No real farmer would."
It used to be that downer cows would make it into the nation's food supply, Buel said.
"Now if they don't walk, they don't take them," Buel said. "Sometimes, there's nothing wrong with the cow."
But Buel said the rules need to be followed.
"Nobody wants to see your industry get a black eye," Buel said. "I think most of the people that were caught doing this were probably getting paid $5 an hour."
Buel said he still thinks the country's agriculture industry produces the "best food in the world."
In a statement released Feb. 3, Westland/Hallmark President Steve Mendell said the company is cooperating with the USDA, has met the highest standards for harvesting and processing meat under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and that only ambulatory livestock entered its harvest facility to be processed into food for human consumption.
The employees were disciplined, Mendell said.
More information on the recall and the investigation into Westland/Hallmark may be found at www.usda.gov.
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