Ground beef recall includes many N. Idaho schools

Fourteen North Idaho school districts were notified today they may have received ground beef tainted with small pieces of plastic. The beef was recalled by Central Valley Meat Co. of Hanford, Calif. It may have been served in some schools, but no problems have been reported so far, said Melissa McGrath, spokeswoman for the Idaho Department of Education. The beef was processed March 30 and delivered to 86 school districts, charter schools, private schools and juvenile detention centers between July 2 and Sept. 6, state officials said. The Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls school districts did not receive any of the beef. Many smaller school districts, however, were notified of the recall. They include the Lakeland, West Bonner, Lake Pend Oreille, Kellogg, Wallace, Boundary County, St. Maries and Kootenai districts. Also, the Moscow, Potlatch, Nez Perce, Orofino, Kamiah and Cottonwood districts in north-central Idaho were notified. The state asked districts and schools to identify and segregate any recalled product, which will be collected and destroyed. Central Valley, which delivers products to Idaho schools through a U.S. Department of Agriculture program, has been in the news before. Its slaughterhouse was shuttered temporarily in 2012 by federal regulators after they received undercover video showing cows — some unable to walk — being repeatedly shocked and shot before being slaughtered.