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Reimbursement Promised to Schools for Recalled Beef

In the recall of beef from Hallmark/Westland states and local schools have had to pay the cost of holding and destroying about 18 million pounds of beef as well as replacing it.

"USDA will pursue every avenue available to us to reimburse the states for the cost of replacing the products that had to be destroyed as well as the transportation of the product to the disposal site, disposal fees and that sort of thing," says Bill Sessions of USDA's Marketing Service.

The big question is where that money is going to come from. Under law the company that produced the faulty product is supposed to pay for it, but Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company President Steve Mendell told lawmakers last week that may not be possible because this recall has put the company out of business.