McDonald’s and Costco Stops Buying Meat; USDA Warns of Meat Plant Dangers
The federal government, Costco and McDonald’s are just some of the groups that put a stop to all purchases of meat from a California meat plant that is now under investigation for animal cruelty. We won’t go into all the dirty details, but find out what you should know as a consumer and (likely) fast food aficionado!
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now investigating Central Valley Meat Company after an animal welfare group’s hidden camera video footage showed ill and even lame cows being beaten, shocked and , in some cases, even shot on their slow walk to the slaughterhouse.
McDonald’s was clear in their views: “There are behaviors in the video which appear to be unacceptable and would not adhere to the standards we demand of our suppliers,” the company stated.
The undercover video was shot at Central Valley Meat Company in June/July by an individual for the group Compassion Over Killing. It is illegal to slaughter a lame, ill or injured animal for its meat as it could be infected with mad cow disease.
The USDA bought over 20 million pounds of beef from CVM in 2011 for both school lunch and federal food programs. “The department works to ensure that product purchased for the federal feeding programs meets stringent food safety standards and that processors comply with humane handling regulations,” the USDA representative said.
In-N-Out Burger suspended purchases before the video’s release (they were purchasing 20-30% of their meat supply) and Costco also suspended their meat purchases since the video was shown on ABC News. The USDA shut down Central Valley Meat Co. soon after the video was released. The video even displayed workers kicking the cows and putting the animals in the slaughterhouse line although many were unable to walk or even stand up.
Central Valley Meat Co. has engaged a P.R. firm that will answer or address any questions about the actions and events shown in said video. The firm claims that Central Valley is working on fixing any violations that the USDA deems illegal or not within their guidelines. The statement read: “Based on our own investigation and 30 years of producing safe, high-quality US beef, we are confident these concerns pose no food safety issues.”
What do you think of national food issues such as this? Do you think about where your meat comes from (and how it is treated), or do you dig in without knowing? Let me know about these topics and your views in the COMMENTS.
Until tomorrow (freebie time again),
Emilie
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Tags: central valley meat, central valley meat company, compassion over killing, costco meat, in and out meat, mcdonald's USDA, mcdonalds, meat plant shut down, meat plant shut down mcdonald's, USDA
