March 10, 2010 – USA Today’s article “Lag time in tracing tainted food puts schoolkids at risk” reports on a recent Huntington Meat Packing recall.

Although USDA Foods, the school commodity program, did not purchase any of the beef and veal products included in the recall, some school nutrition programs, as well as restaurants and hotels, purchased recalled products through the commercial market.

“School nutrition professionals know the safety of school meals is our most important responsibility, and we are constantly working, through strict food safety procedures and staff training, to ensure the 31 million meals we serve to children each day are safe and nutritious,” said SNA President Dora Rivas, MS, RD, SNS, executive director of Food and Child Nutrition Services for the Dallas Independent School District in Texas. “Members of the School Nutrition Association support strong food safety standards and endorse efforts to ensure recall information is quickly disseminated to consumers in the grocery store and the school cafeteria alike.”

To ensure your school nutrition program is receiving immediate notification of all food recall information, visit http://www.recalls.gov/list.html and enter your email address to subscribe to “FDA Recalls” and the “FSIS Email Subscription System.”

Click here for details on the Huntington Meat Packing Inc. recall.

Click here for talking points on school food safety efforts.