Recalled meat dumped at BKW



BERNE — While some local media reported that no questionable beef had been distributed to area schools, the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School District had 32 cases of recalled hamburger.

The meat was disposed of on Monday, said Deb Rosko, BKW’s food service director.
"We took the contaminated cases, opened them"poured bleach on them, and put them in the Dumpster," said Rosko.

The state’s Office of General Services told BKW’s food service department on Feb. 6 that the United States Department of Agriculture put a hold on Westland beef, which had sick cows. This included beef distributed by the Advance Food Company. BKW uses Advance, one of five distributors that delivered the beef in question.
"We complied immediately and have not served any beef from Advance since Feb. 6," BKW said Monday in an e-mail notification.

Hamburgers that were served in January were from lots prior to the recall so none of the possibly contaminated hamburger was served to the students, Rosko said.

The recall has been reported extensively in the media. OGS is trying to determine how far-reaching the problem is and has contacted those who receive beef from the five distributors that delivered the beef, according to Brad Maione, spokesman for the state office.

The state’s Department of Health and OGS have given guidelines for disposing of the 40-pound cases. They include providing proof that the beef was destroyed.

The disposal of the beef had to be witnessed by two people, Rosko said, and BKW had to fill out a Destruction Verification Form.

Asked how long BKW holds beef before serving it, Rosko said it depends on the source.
"[This was] government-donated beef that we had processed into hamburgers"We’re always working several months in advance of using them," she said. "If I were to be purchasing these products from a local food distributor, it would only be a week or two" before the school used them, Rosko said. "So it was actually a fortunate thing that we had them from a distributor that delivered in advance."

Rosko encouraged anyone with questions or concerns to contact her. She can be reached at 872-5131.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer contributed comments from Guilderland and Voorheesville school officials to this story.