WASHINGTON – The Agriculture Department plans to tell the public which grocery stores and other retailers have received tainted meat during some recalls.
Agriculture Secretary Edward Schafer announced the new policy Friday. It comes in the wake of the nation's biggest-ever beef recall — 143 million pounds from a slaughterhouse in Southern California.
But the new rule doesn't go as far as consumer groups would like. It will apply only in the case of so-called "Class I" recalls — those with the greatest health hazard.
That means it actually wouldn't have applied to the Southern California recall, which was classified as "Class II" because authorities thought there was minimal health risk.
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