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Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Where’s the recalled beef? Right here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Hallmark/Westland beef recall keeps spreading. The beef, under recall because the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that the California plant had treated animals inhumanely and had not followed procedures in getting a vet to check over downer (sick or injured) cattle before slaughter, first turned up in 39 Georgia school districts. The plant was a major supplier to the federal school meals program.
Now the recall has reached the secondary stage, where beef sent to other food companies and mixed into other foods, is being recalled. USDA has classified the recall as a level 2, low risk to human health. Downer cattle are considered at higher risk for bacterial contamination such as e. coli 0157:H7 and salmonella, since they’re lying in feces for extended periods. They’re also considered at higher risk for mad cow disease, a fatal, brain-wasting illness with a human counterpart that can take decades to appear.
So where’s the beef? As a consumer, you won’t know unless you check the California Department of Public Health’s web site. Although consumer groups have long pushed the USDA to release that information as part of the recall notice, they haven’t succeeded. USDA cites concerns about revealing trade secrets, based on manufacturers’ reluctance to release customer lists. But California now requires disclosure of that information.
Some food manufacturers and retailers have pushed the USDA to rescind the Feb. 17 recall, arguing that there’s a minimal risk of illness. The meat recall, at 143 million pounds, is the nation’s largest. Now it’s even larger, because the beef was mixed into many other products, from Slim Jim Jerky to Progresso Italian Wedding soup to Hunts Meat Flavored Spaghetti Sauce, Costco’s Kirkland Signature Sirloin and Loin of Beef Patties, and Hot Pockets Philly Steak and Cheese sandwich. So far, the USDA is holding to the recall. If you’re concerned about having any of these products in your pantry, check out the California site.
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Want your own restaurant? Click here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you really love restaurant or cooking reality shows, you know the best ones are on BBC America. (If you get digital cable or satellite TV, you’ve got access to this channel, a greatest-hits version of the one across the pond.) Gordon Ramsey’s “Kitchen Nightmares” are more real, less spoon-fed schlock, on BBC America than in the U.S. version.
“Last Restaurant Standing,” now winnowing hopeful restaurateurs in England, is engaging, too. A successful restaurateur promises one couple a restaurant of their own as the final prize. Here’s how it works: Each couple gets an empty space that they must turn into a restaurant in just a few days, and must quickly come up with a concept, decor, menu and staff. Each week, one couple is eliminated; the last one gets the restaurant.
Now it looks like there will be an American version, and they’re casting in Atlanta. (And let’s hope it stays true to the BBC style.)
NBC is holding a casting call Sunday, March 16, for couples interested in operating a restaurant on a reality show. Granada Productions, the company behind “Nanny 911” and “Hell’s Kitchen,” is looking for two-person teams with existing relationships. Producers are doing interviews from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the W Hotel at Perimeter, 111 Perimeter Center West. If you’re interested in doing this, you’ll find all the rules on the NBC Now Casting area.
Have you ever dreamed of opening your own restaurant? If so, what would it look like? What would you serve? How would you make it stand out from so many others?
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