At least two Richmond-area school systems report that they received meat affected by the largest recall of beef in the United States.

State and federal officials are stressing, however, that they consider school lunches safe.

Chesterfield and Hanover counties' schools received meat from Southern California-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. The U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered a recall of 143 million pounds of beef from the meatpacker, which is the subject of an animal-abuse investigation.

Westland/Hallmark provided meat to various federal programs.

Spokesmen for Ukrop's Super Markets, Food Lion, Wal-Mart and Kroger grocery chains said yesterday that their meat was not affected by the recall.

It remains unclear how much -- if any -- of the beef was served to Richmond-area students.

"We do receive USDA meat from a variety of packers, including Westland/Hallmark," Chesterfield schools spokeswoman Debra Q. Marlow said yesterday.

"The distributor has put on hold any lots of beef that may be affected. We're checking our freezers to be sure we do not have any now. If we had any, we would not use it and would wait for the USDA for further instructions," Marlow said.

Hanover schools spokeswoman Dale Theakston said 10 cases of meat meant for county schools were held at distribution centers and not sent to schools.

"The USDA sent notification on Feb. 1 that the product should be put on hold and not served," she said.

The Henrico County school system did not receive any meat from Westland/Hallmark, spokesman Mychael Dickerson said.

Richmond school system spokeswoman Felicia Cosby said yesterday, "To our knowledge, none of the beef came to our district."

"This is not a public-health issue. It's a humane-treatment-of-animals issue," maintained Elaine Lidholm, spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The department administers the USDA's food-distribution program, which helps ensure that federally donated food is used according to guidelines.

The USDA says Westland did not routinely contact its veterinarian when cattle became non-ambulatory after passing inspection, violating health regulations. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer said in a statement yesterday that the Food and Safety Inspection Service determined that because of that, the beef is unfit for human consumption.

The recall affects beef products dating to Feb. 1, 2006.

Officials estimate that about 37 million pounds of the recalled beef went to school programs.

"We don't consider this meat tainted or unsafe. This is a company violating procedures for the proper slaughter of animals," said Ron Vogel, deputy associate administrator for special nutrition programs at the USDA.

"The health risk we consider negligible. I would advise parents not to be concerned."
Contact Lisa Crutchfield at (804) 649-6362 or lcrutchfield@timesdispatch.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.