Frozen beef recalled nationwide made its way into the freezers at several area schools.
Tuesday night, Dr. Diana Showalter, superintendent of Manchester Community Schools, informed the school board that the school had some of the beef in question in the freezers at both the high school and the elementary school.According to Showalter, Gordon's Food Service contacted the school Tuesday afternoon to let officials know that some of the beef in question was delivered there. Showalter said Gordon's Food Service gave the school a list of serial numbers for cases of the beef that should not be used.
Sixteen cases of the meat were identified at the high school and three cases were found at the elementary school after the phone call. The cases were marked and separated from the rest of the food in the freezer for safety. The school still is checking invoices and inventory to be sure all the beef has been found.
None of the meat was served at the school.
The recall comes after Westland-Hallmark Meat Co. was accused of violating health regulations and mistreating cattle at the processing facility.
According to Jason Bearce, director of communications for the Indiana Department of Education, schools have been notified of the recalled products and have been told to pull the products and not serve them. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has told the schools to hold the products and wait for further information; however, Bearce said it is more than likely that all the beef in question will be destroyed.
Bearce also said the affected beef, about 29,000 pounds worth, represented a fairly small amount of the food in Indiana Schools.
The recall of the beef in question is a Class II recall, which means there is a remote possibility that the products could cause illness. So far, no cases of illnesses related to the meat have been reported.
Other area schools were affected by the recall as well.
Whitko High School has put all beef products aside and will not serve beef products at this time. According to Food Service Director Peggy Cavanaugh, the school is waiting for the state to make a decision regarding the beef. She said the school is aware of the recall and will be keeping track of the situation and following up.
Most of the inventory at the school was not on the affected list, but just to be safe, beef will not be served until everything is cleared up.
Cavanaugh said the school plans to serve a lot of chicken, fish and cheese items instead of beef products.
Triton and Tippecanoe Valley schools had some of the products that were recalled, but not much.
According to Triton Elementary School Cafeteria Manager Peggy Patrick, the school had only four cases of taco meat that were recalled. The contaminated meat already has been discarded and destroyed in front of two witnesses.
Triton High School Cafeteria Manager Jamie McIntyre said that building had very little of the affected meat. She said there was about 30 pounds of the meat in the freezer, which also was discarded and destroyed in front of two witnesses.
Everything else in the freezer, said McIntyre, has been checked and is not part of the recall.
Tippecanoe Valley High School Cafeteria Manager Becky Murphy said the only affected product the school had was spaghetti sauce. The products have been marked and isolated. All other products in the school's freezer have been checked and are not affected by the recall.
Warsaw Community Schools also was affected by the recall. The school had about 16 cases of miniature hamburgers which were going to be on the menu at the middle school and high school, but none were served to students. The products have been separated and marked so they will not be used.
One area school was lucky and not affected by the recall. Wawasee School Corp.'s Lisa Hall said the corporation was not affected by the beef recall. Employees checked all the inventory and the corporation did not have any of the affected beef.
