Radio news clips source of largest recall of beef

On-the-hour one-sentence radio news items yesterday and Sunday announcing a huge recall of meat merely related the tip of the iceberg.

With no name attached, or details, the brief served to alarm listeners when another sentence or two could have shed a bit more light on what turns out to be the largest recall of its type in the U.S., notes Grumpy Editor.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered 143 million pounds of frozen beef recalled.

Among hourly radio news reports, CBS News did it on Sunday, ABC News continued with a brief item early yesterday.  California was mentioned, but Chino, the city where the slaughterhouse company is based, was not pinpointed and Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., the company name --- especially important in a story of such magnitude --- was omitted even though it was in the third paragraph of an Associated Press story out Sunday.

Inserting Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. takes about two seconds of air time.  Even in a two-minute radio news segment, common in many markets, that vital element should have been worked in, even if it meant dropping or reducing popular “person on the scene” quotes relating to other news events.

Another interesting aspect in the recalled beef story is that about 150 school districts used the recalled ground beef in lunch programs.

But the major question mark with the recalled beef is that it affects products dating back to Feb. 1, 2006.  So, in many cases, the beef already has been consumed.

Look for further developments from Congress, the USDA and other federal authorities.