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APRIL 6, 2001

Claiming lower level employees made the decision without proper authority, the United States Department of Agriculture on Thursday backed off a proposal that would have eliminated bacteria in beef tests in daily lunches destined for 27 million school children, many of them from minority and low-income families.

"Today we are withdrawing proposed changes in contract procedures for meat and poultry related to the School Lunch Program," said Secretary Ann Veneman in a statement. "These proposed changes were released prior to receiving appropriate review."

Veneman said the safety of food for children was of great importance to her agency and that existing contracts with beef providers would require bacteria testing. But she stopped short of committing to the existing standard and said the department will "consider new contract procedures after appropriate scientific-based information is received from all interested parties."

The administration's change of heart still leaves open the possibility that the current policy will be revised in the future. Instituted by the Clinton administration, any ground beef which tests positive for salmonella, a dangerous bacteria, cannot be fed to school children in the program.

Former Secretary Dan Glickman said last year: "When I was made aware that many of the major fast food companies have even more stringent standards for ground beef than USDA has, I was determined that the disparity would exist no more."

Salmonella can lead to diarrhea, fever, intestinal problems, and other ailments. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1.4 million Americans are affected by salmonella poisoning.

But the beef industry argues the standard is not useful. Properly cooked beef reduces the salmonella risk and methods such as irradiation can kill the bacteria as well.

Improving health and safety at various steps in beef processing can also reduce the risk. Veneman yesterday said any new policy on beef should include examination of "all aspects" of the process.

Although Veneman said she was withdrawing the proposal, the White House yesterday denied her action was a "reversal." Press spokesman Ari Fleischer said the USDA was just reviewing its options when the press first reported on the issue.

"The Secretary is the one who makes those decisions, and the Secretary had not made a decision [to keep the standard] until today," said Fleischer.

The $5 billion National School Lunch Program was first instituted in 1946. Since then, it has served more than 170 billion lunches to school children in every state.

To qualify, children must meet income level requirements. Children at or below a certain poverty level are eligible for free lunches; others are eligible for reduced-cost meals.

About 27 million children every day eat meals through the program.

Relevant Links:
National School Lunch Program - http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Lunch/Default.htm

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