The owner of the company, Steven Mendell, claimed not to know its cows were being tortured. Sounds familiar. Some people lack a conscience, which is why we need to regulate greed.
The DoJ is hoping to recover $150 million in taxpayer money.
The United States has intervened in a civil lawsuit against two former suppliers to the National School Lunch Program – Hallmark Meat Packing Company and Westland Meat Company Inc. – for submitting false and fraudulent claims to the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Justice Department announced today. All ground beef containing defendants’ products was recalled by USDA as of Feb. 16, 2008, and defendants no longer supply beef to the National School Lunch Program or AMS.
The National School Lunch Program is a federally-assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. The program, established under the National School Lunch Act in 1946, provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day.
The suit was originally filed by the Humane Society of the United States under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act (FCA). In its complaint, the Humane Society alleges that defendants knowingly and falsely represented to AMS that all cattle at their slaughtering facility are humanely handled in accordance with federal regulations and that no meat from disabled, non-ambulatory cattle was included in AMS’ purchases.
"The alleged misrepresentations by Hallmark and Westland could have impacted the health of many of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens--our schoolchildren," said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. "Our intervention in this case demonstrates how seriously we will pursue allegations such as these."
Under qui tam statute, a private party, known as a "relator," can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of the recovery. Under the FCA, the government is entitled to treble damages plus civil penalties ranging from $5,500 to $11,000 per violation.
The Department’s Civil Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California will pursue the case. The government plans to file an amended complaint. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General investigated the matter. DOJ
Here's what Obama had to say about this in February 2008:
Senator Barack Obama released a statement on the Department of Agriculture’s decision to recall 143 million pounds of frozen beef that came from “downed” animals. The consumption of downed cattle can pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease.
"Senator Obama said: “Although the Department of Agriculture has now recalled the tainted beef, an estimated 37 million pounds has gone to school lunch programs, and unfortunately, officials believe that most of the meat has already been consumed by schoolchildren. This incident demonstrates yet again the inadequacy of the food recall process. Far too often, tainted food is not recalled until too late.
"When I am President, it will not be business as usual when it comes to food safety. I will provide additional resources to hire more federal food inspectors. I will also call on the Department of Agriculture to examine whether federal food safety laws need to be strengthened, in particular to provide greater protections against tainted food being used in the National School Lunch Program.
"As the parent of two young daughters, there are few issues more important to me than ensuring the safety of the food that our children consume. I commend the Humane Society of the United States for bringing this important issue to the public attention and believe that the mistreatment of downed cows is unacceptable and poses a serious threat to public health.”
