Meat not good enough for fast-food chains sometimes served in public schools
USA Today reports that the quality of meat at fast-food chains like McDonald's, KFC and Burger King is sometimes far better than the meat being served to American students in public schools.
"In the past three years, the government has provided the nation's schools with millions of pounds of beef and chicken that wouldn't meet the quality or safety standards of many fast-food restaurants, from Jack in the Box and other burger places to chicken chains such as KFC, a USA TODAY investigation found."The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the meat it buys for the National School Lunch Program 'meets or exceeds standards in commercial products.'
"That isn't always the case. McDonald's, Burger King and Costco, for instance, are far more rigorous in checking for bacteria and dangerous pathogens. They test the ground beef they buy five to 10 times more often than the USDA tests beef made for schools during a typical production day."
The USDA defended the products provided to schools, but Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has promised an independent review next year of testing requirements for ground beef.
Ann Arbor Public Schools contracts with Chartwells to provide food service for the district, and Chartwells does obtain meat for Ann Arbor schools through the USDA. Margie Saidel, vice president of Nutrition, Sustainability and Community at Chartwells, said the company depends on the USDA to ensure the safety of those products.
In a statement, Chartwells National Marketing Director Karen J. Dittrich said: "Chartwells supports all USDA efforts to further improve the safety of foods provided as part of the National School Breakfast and Lunch programs."
If you think more immediate action is needed before the independent review, here is an online petition you can fill out.
Jen Eyer is on the Community Team at AnnArbor.com. She oversees the Parenting and Home & Garden sections, and writes feature stories, blog posts and opinion pieces. She can be reached at 734-623-2577 or jeneyer@annarbor.com.
Comments
jkbepp
Wed, Dec 16, 2009 : 11:19 a.m.
Our children deserve to be protected. The schools cannot afford to pay for extra testing, but the USDA standards should be held accountable. I am horrified by the thought that our children could be served meat that would only qualify as dog food.
Dalex64
Tue, Dec 15, 2009 : 2:49 p.m.
I find the headline to be quite misleading. The first paragraph states that the meat served by some fast food chains is "far better" than that being served to schoolchildren. Never in the article does it support the claim of the headline, that the meat would not be good enough for McDonalds. So, because the fast food restaurants test their food 5 to 10 times more than the USDA, the quality of the USDA meat is called into question? I don't see it written where McDonalds rejects 5 to 10 times more meat than the USDA. They just test it more often. Assuming the USDA is testing their meat the minimum number of times required by law, all the article really says is that some fast food chains test their meat 5 to 10 times more than is required. Again, that doesn't mean that McDonalds would reject USDA meat - they would just test it more.