Mar 5, 2008 4:52 pm US/Pacific
Congress Subpoenas SoCal Slaughterhouse Owner
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
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Undercover video shows a sick cow being jabbed with forklift blades at the Hallmark Meat Packing Co. in Chino, Calif.
The Humane Society/CBS
House lawmakers on Wednesday ordered the head of the company responsible for the largest beef recall in U.S. history to appear before Congress.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight unanimously voted to subpoena Steven Mendell, chief executive of Chino, Calif.-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. The subpoena orders the executive to testify at a hearing on Wednesday, March 12 titled, "Regulatory Failure: Must America live with unsafe food?"
Mendell, who is co-owner of the plant that triggered the recall, was invited to testify before the committee at a hearing last week but did not show up.
"Millions of pounds of recalled meat arrived in schools across the country and the American people deserve to know what led to this," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Rep. Bart Stupak, who chairs the oversight subcommittee, said his staff tried to reach Mendell by phone 15 times in the week after the recall. In the one case when staffers did speak with Mendell, he said he would call them back—but never did, according to Stupak.
Congressional staffers said Mendell should receive the subpoena within days. If he refuses to appear before the committee lawmakers could hold him in contempt, which could lead to his arrest.
A company representative contacted Wednesday was unable to comment.
Westland/Hallmark recalled $143 million pounds of beef last month after the U.S. Humane Society exposed video of workers breaking rules designed to prevent sick cattle from entering the food supply.
The video showed workers kicking and shoving sick and crippled cows and forcing them to stand with electric prods, forklifts and water hoses.
Dingell and other House Democrats are considering legislation that would give government regulators power to order food recalls. Currently the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture work with companies to organize voluntary recalls.
An from the Department of Agriculture told a separate House committee earlier this week that regulators are still trying to locate 6.5 million pounds of recalled meat which primarily went to school lunches.
Elsewhere Wednesday, the Los Angeles Unified School District said it had finished locating and disposing of about 155,000 pounds of recalled beef in its warehouses. The district, which has not served any beef in recent weeks, expects to start adding beef to its menus again soon, said Dennis Barrett, the district's director of food services.
"When we start serving ground beef ... parents in the community will know there's no question" that it's safe, Barrett said.
Landon Morris, who drives a delivery truck for food services, says drivers put in several 11- and 12-hour days carting the recalled beef from schools all over the district to a warehouse in Pico Rivera.
"I had to miss class on that Monday because I had to work overtime," he said.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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