An undercover video showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts has led to the largest beef recall in the United States and a scramble to find out if any of the meat is still destined for school children's lunches.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of beef from a Southern California slaughterhouse that is the subject of an animal-abuse investigation.

The recall will affect beef products dating to Feb. 1, 2006, that came from Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., the federal agency said. The company provided meat to various federal programs.

Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer said his department has evidence that Westland did not routinely contact its veterinarian when cattle became non-ambulatory after passing inspection, violating health regulations.

"Because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection, Food Safety and Inspection Service has determined them to be unfit for human food and the company is conducting a recall," Schafer said in a statement.

A phone message left for Westland president Steve Mendell was not returned Sunday.

Agriculture officials said the massive recall surpasses a 1999 ban of 35 million pounds of ready-to-eat meats. No illnesses have been linked to the newly recalled meat, and officials said the health threat was likely small.

Officials estimate that about 37 million pounds of the recalled beef went to school programs, but they believe most of the meat probably has already been eaten.

"We don't know how much product is out there right now. We don't think there is a health hazard, but we do have to take this action," said Dr. Dick Raymond, USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety.

Federal officials suspended operations at Westland/Hallmark after an undercover video from the Humane Society of the United States surfaced showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts.

Two former employees were charged Friday. Five felony counts of animal cruelty and three misdemeanors were filed against a pen manager. Three misdemeanor counts — illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal — were filed against an employee who worked under that manager. Both were fired.

Authorities said the video showed workers kicking, shocking and otherwise abusing "downer" animals that were apparently too sick or injured to walk into the slaughterhouse. Some animals had water forced down their throats, San Bernardino County prosecutor Michael Ramos said.

No charges have been filed against Westland, but an investigation by federal authorities continues.

About 150 school districts around the nation have stopped using ground beef from Hallmark Meat Packing Co., which is associated with Westland. Two fast-food chains, Jack-In-the-Box and In-N-Out, said they would not use beef from Westland/Hallmark.

Most of the beef was sent to distribution centers in bulk packages. The USDA said it will work with distributors to determine how much meat remains.

Federal regulations call for keeping downed cattle out of the food supply because they may pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease since they typically wallow in feces and their immune systems are often weak.

Upon learning about the recall, some legislators criticized the USDA, saying the federal agency should conduct more thorough inspections to ensure tainted beef doesn't get to the public.

"Today marks the largest beef recall in U.S. history, and it involves the national school lunch program and other federal food and nutrition programs," said U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. "This begs the question: How much longer will we continue to test our luck with weak enforcement of federal food safety regulations?"

Advocacy groups also weighed in, noting the problems at Westland wouldn't have been revealed had it not been for animal right activists.

"On the one hand, I'm glad that the recall is taking place. On the other, it's somewhat disturbing, given that obviously much of this food has already been eaten," said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union. "It's really closing the barn door after the cows left."

An animal abuse investigation at a California slaughterhouse has led to the largest beef recall in the nation's history - the bulk of which was sent to school lunch programs.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled 143 million pounds of frozen beef Sunday, suspecting some of it came from steers too sick to stand up.

Up to 37 million pounds of the questionable meat went to school programs and officials fear it has already been eaten by thousands of children.

"We don't know how much product is out there right now. We don't think there is a health hazard, but we do have to take this action," said Dr. Dick Raymond, USDA undersecretary for food safety.

Raymond said no illnesses have been linked to recalled beef. Schools spokeswoman Melody Meyer could not say yesterday whether any of the recalled meat has been served in city schools.

"We will have to review the situation as more facts are known," Meyer said. "We're not going to serve any beef until we confirm that the meat is safe."

City schools are closed this week for winter break. Officials hope to have more information before school resumes Feb. 25, Meyer said.

The recall was limited to frozen beef shipped from the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino, Calif., dating from Feb. 1, 2006.

The slaughterhouse came under fire after an undercover Humane Society video showed sick cattle being shoved with a forklift, and workers kicking and shocking steers that were too sick or injured to walk.

Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer said Westland/Hallmark violated health regulations by frequently failing to have veterinarians examine sick cows.

Supermarket operator Safeway Inc. on Thursday said the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned it may have received raw ground beef products that contain salmonella.

The company said it might have received the products between Sept. 19 and Nov. 5 in five states -- Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico.

A specific product, retailer or establishment that is the source of the contamination has not been determined.

No illness has been reported in Hawaii or New Mexico. There has been a case in Idaho that does not have an apparent connection with Safeway, the company said.

The notice does not include fresh ground beef patties.

No Safeway product has tested positive for salmonella. The company said customers who have frozen raw beef products purchased between Sept. 19 and Nov. 5 should throw them away.

Salmonella can cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps within 72 hours of consumption. It is usually found in food contaminated with animal feces, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

U.S. marshals on Friday seized 12,682 applicator tubes of a discontinued cosmetic called Age Intervention Eyelash, which the Food and Drug Administration said could harm some users' vision.

The product -- once promoted as increasing eyelash growth -- had been sold and distributed by San Jose, California-based Jan Marini Skin Research, Inc, which accused the FDA of unfairly singling it out.

The FDA said it considered Age Intervention Eyelash "adulterated" and potentially dangerous, notably for users with elevated pressure inside the eye.

The product contains bimatoprost, an active ingredient in an FDA-approved drug to treat this condition.

For patients on the prescription drug, using Age Intervention Eyelash may boost the risk of optic nerve damage "because the extra dose of bimatoprost may decrease the prescription drug's effectiveness," the FDA said.

Jan Marini, the company's president and chief executive, said the product at issue had been in its warehouse since September 2006, when California public health authorities "embargoed" it at FDA request.

The company added in a statement it had offered to destroy the product, "but the FDA recently informed JMSR that it preferred to seize the product so that it could issue a press release announcing the seizure."

"We have been unfairly singled out," Marini said in a telephone interview. "Other companies use the same ingredient and we're not aware of any action that has been taken against them." 

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it would look into claims from an advocacy group that certain lipsticks contain potentially dangerous levels of lead. Similar claims in the past have not been confirmed, the agency said.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said that a third of the 33 red lipsticks examined by an independent lab contained a level of lead exceeding 0.1 parts per million—which is the FDA's limit for lead in candy. The FDA does not set a limit for lead in lipstick.

The organization commissioning the lipstick study says its goal is to pressure companies to remove toxic chemicals from their products and replace them with safer alternatives. The lead tests were conducted by an independent laboratory last month on red lipsticks bought in Boston, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Hartford, Conn., the organization said.

The FDA said concerns about lead in lipstick have been raised occasionally in the print media and on the Internet.

"These concerns have not generally been supported by FDA's own analysis of products on the market. In the present case, we are looking into the specific details of the issues raised," said Stephanie Kwisnek, a spokeswoman at the FDA. "We will need to confirm the factual basis of these reports independently in order to determine what action, if any, may be needed to protect public health."

The trade association representing the cosmetic industry acknowledged "negligible" levels of lead in some lipsticks, but said it is not intentionally added.

"Consumers are exposed daily to lead when they eat, drink water and breathe the air," said John Bailey, an executive vice president at the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association. "The average amount of lead a woman would be exposed to when using cosmetics is 1,000 times less than the amount she would get from eating, breathing, and drinking water that meets Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standards."

Agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. said this weekend it is recalling about 844,812 pounds of frozen beef patties due to possible E. coli contamination after investigators found four cases of illness linked to a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Minnesota.

Wal-Mart-owned Sam's Club pulled frozen hamburgers made by Cargill from its store shelves over the weekend after Minnesota health officials discovered four cases of E. coli associated with the burgers.

Symptoms of E. coli 0157:H7 illness -- the strain associated with the recall -- include potentially severe stomach cramps and diarrhea.

Cargill learned of the situation on Friday and said in a statement it does not yet know the extent of "any contamination." The investigation, which has been expanded beyond Minnesota, is ongoing.

"We are concerned that some consumers may still have the product sold at retail in their freezers," Bill Rupp, president of Cargill Meat Solutions, said in a statement. "We and Sam's Club are urging customers to return or destroy any American Chef's Selection Angus Beef Patties purchased in any of their stores since August."

Cargill said the hamburgers were manufactured at its plant in Butler, Wisconsin.

All four cases of E. coli being investigated occurred in children, the Minnesota Department of Health said in a statement. The cases are associated with eating ground beef patties purchased from Sam's Club stores in late August and September.

The Topps Meat Co.'s massive frozen hamburger beef recall has many shoppers worried about the safety of their meat, after it may have sickened 25 people in eight states.

"You don't know what's in it," one concerned shopper said. "It makes me feel very scared, and I don't know what to eat."

The recall, which includes 21.7 million pounds of meat, is enough to make a McDonald's regular hamburger for every adult in America.

The meat in question was made in late June and July. The E. coli in the hamburger beef began sickening people in August. It took nearly six weeks before the first recall was issued.

"We don't understand why it took so long to recall this meat. If there was a victim in August, it should have been revealed weeks ago," said Jean Halloran of the Consumers Union.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the industry, said there were no recall delays. However, when the first recall went out Tuesday, only a small amount was recalled. By the weekend, the recall was expanded by more than 600 times.

One victim, who tasted the tainted beef, was 15-year-old Samantha Safranek. She had severe stomach cramps in August after eating it.

"It almost cost my life," Safranek said. "I was just scared the whole time, just thinking, if I was even going to make it. And I didn't want a silly burger just to kill me."

The food recall is the latest in a rash of E. coli-related callbacks this year, including tainted spinach and salad mixes. The USDA said it is unable to explain why there have been so many outbreaks.

However, critics complain that every lot of processed meat should be tested, which is something not required today.