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USDA Orders Largest Meat Recall in U.S. History

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"We are very confident in the safety of the food supply," he said.

Hallmark fired two workers seen on the tape, and the men face animal cruelty charges in California. A company spokesman said senior management was not aware of the use of extreme measures to get sick cattle upright.

Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle said yesterday the recall "validates the chief finding we made, that sick and injured animals got into the food supply."

Officials at Hallmark and Westland could not be reached yesterday to comment.

The largest previous meat recall orders both covered 35 million pounds and came a month apart in 1998 and 1999. Both involved ready-to-eat products contaminated with listeria. Nearly two dozen people died and about 100 fell ill after eating the meat.

Last September, 21.7 million pounds of Topps Meat ground beef were recalled after at least 30 people were sickened from meat contaminated with E. coli bacteria.

In the Hallmark/Westland case, Raymond said, "We feel there is a very, very remote possibility of health consequences from consuming this product."

Staff researcher Rena Kirsch contributed to this report.

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