This Company-Destroying Beef Recall Involved Over 140 Million Pounds Of Meat

Food recalls happen on a fairly regular basis – for a reassuring reason! — and involve all manner of products. Some recalls are relatively minor, but others are massive, like the largest egg recall in American history that sickened almost 2,000 people in 2010. Yet even that doesn't quite compare to the infamous Hallmark/Westland beef recall of 2008, which saw over 140 million pounds of beef destroyed.

In 2008, the United States Department of Agriculture issued a recall notice for approximately 143 million pounds of beef in the form of various raw and frozen products, which had gone out to a wide variety of retailers and government food programs. The reason for the recall was that the cattle were not properly inspected before slaughter. To this day, the sheer scope of the recall makes it the largest beef recall in American history and perhaps the largest such recall overall.

Yet, despite the size of the action, no actual pathogens were officially associated with this event. This makes the Hallmark/Westland event a Class 2 recall, meaning it was deemed one with only a remote possibility of harm. That's opposed to a Class 1 recall, which carries a reasonable possibility that the product could cause harm or even death. An example of a Class 1 recall is the one issued for Detroit-based Wolverine Packing Co.'s ground beef in 2024, due to E. coli.

The Hallmark/Westland recall was sparked by an undercover investigation conducted by the Humane Society of the United States (now Humane World for Animals), which recorded employees abusing downer cattle, livestock that cannot stand or move on their own due to illness or injury. It is illegal to sell beef from downer animals ... which is just what Hallmark/Westland did.

No known sickness or death occurred as a result of Hallmark/Westland's recalled beef. However, downer cattle do have a larger risk of carrying diseases like E. coli and mad cow disease. They're also much more vulnerable to the kind of abuse the cattle suffered in the Humane Society's undercover video. Said recording is available online, but if you choose to watch it, be aware that it is graphic. Reportedly, even beef industry leaders were shocked by the abuse.

In the aftermath of the recall, Hallmark/Westland was found liable for $67.2 million, two employees were arrested, and the company was fined over $155 million for animal abuse. However, the U.S. Department of Justice determined a financially strapped Hallmark/Westland could only pay $3.1 million, and it was ultimately sold to new owners. The USDA also introduced new policy changes that fully opposed downer cattle in the food supply, alerted customers to the presence of contaminated meat at grocery stores, more strictly enforced E. coli safety measures, and created a national trace system for meat. The silver lining is that the Hallmark/Westland recall became a driving event for food industry reform.