science

Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company

Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company rather than just read about it. In short: Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company was a California-based meat packaging company. It was forced into bankruptcy due to costs from a meat recall and ensuing litigation. 2008 recall On February 17, 2008, Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company voluntarily recalled just over 143 million pounds (65 million kilograms) of raw and frozen beef products, considered the largest meat recall in the United States, following a…

Key takeaways

Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company was a California-based meat packaging company. It was forced into bankruptcy due to costs from a meat recall and ensuing litigation.

2008 recall On February 17, 2008, Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company voluntarily recalled just over 143 million pounds (65 million kilograms) of raw and frozen beef products, considered the largest meat recall in the United States, following an investigation into animal cruelty. The recall came in the wake of animal cruelty and violations of the law at a slaughtering plant, by an investigation conducted by The Humane Society of the United States. An investigator for the HSUS videotaped workers abusing downed animals unable to walk into the kill pens on their own. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service had determined that beef products produced by the Chino, California, company were unfit for human consumption as the cattle had not received "complete and proper inspection." The recall was designated as Class II, which the USDA describes as "a health hazard situation where there is a remote probability of adverse health consequences from the use of the product." On Friday, Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer indicated that charges had been laid against employees of the plant alleged to have taken part in the mistreatment of cattle. "Today [Friday], the San Bernardino District Attorney filed felony animal cruelty charges against two employees who were terminated by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company," said Schafer. "It is regrettable that these animals were mistreated and I am encouraged and supportive of these actions by the San Bernardino District Attorney in response to this mistreatment." The USDA learned of the possible inhumane handling of non-ambulatory (disabled) cattle at the packing plant on January 30 and has since suspended activities at the plant. "We continue to conduct a thorough investigation into whether any violations of food safety or additional humane handling regulations have occurred," said Secretary Schafer in a press release. "On February 8, our Office of the Inspector General took the lead on the investigation. At that time, USDA extended the administrative hold on Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company products for the National School Lunch Program, the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations while the investigation continues," said Schafer. The Food Safety and Inspection Service reported that Hallmark/Westland had not contacted their public health veterinarian, as required, when cattle became ill or disabled after undergoing ante-mortem (slaughter) inspection, putting the company out of compliance with regulations. "Because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection FSIS has determined them to be unfit for human food and the company is conducting a recall," explained Secretary Schafer. The cruelty charges stem from an undercover video that reportedly showed sick cattle being moved by crews using forklifts. "Words cannot accurately express how shocked and horrified I was at the depictions contained on the video that was taken by an individual who worked at our facility from October 3 thru November 14, 2007," said Steve Mendell, President, Westland Meat Co. and Hallmark Meat Packing. "We have taken swift action regarding the two employees identified on the video and have already implemented aggressive measures to ensure all employees follow our humane handling policies and procedures. We are also cooperating with the USDA investigators on the allegations of inhumane handling treatment which is a serious breach of our company’s policies and training." The USDA stressed that it is "extremely unlikely" that the cattle involved were at risk for Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad-cow disease due to the employment of multiple safeguards. The USDA felt the recall was required, however, as the plant had allegedly violated USDA regulations. In late February testimony before a subcommittee of the Senate Agriculture Committee, USDA Secretary Ed Schafer said that the agency would not favor a full ban on downers in the food supply. At about the same time, the HSUS sued in federal court to close the loophole by which downers continue to be accepted into the food supply.

References

External links "Statement by Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer Regarding Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company Two Year Product Recall". USDA. February 17, 2008. "California Firm Recalls Beef Products" (PDF). USDA. February 17, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 19, 2008. (PDF) AP (February 17, 2008). "USDA recalls 143 million pounds of beef". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 7, 2016. "Statement by Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer Regarding Animal Cruelty Charges Filed Against Employees at Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company". USDA. February 15, 2008. Archived from the original on March 4, 2008. "USDA Q&A". USDA. February 19, 2008.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company

In research: Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Companies based in San Bernardino County, California, Food company stubs, Food manufacturers of the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company in simple terms?

Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company was a California-based meat packaging company. It was forced into bankruptcy due to costs from a meat recall and ensuing litigation. 2008 recall On February 17, 2008, Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company voluntarily recalled just over 143 million pounds (65…

Why does Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company.