A USA Today investigation has found that the government provides schools with beef and chicken that wouldn't meet the safety standards of fast-food restaurants. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the meat it buys for school lunches "meets or exceeds standards in commercial products," but McDonald's, Burger King, and Costco test for bacteria and dangerous pathogens five to 10 times more often than the USDA tests beef made for schools. Is the government being careless about the safety of school lunches? (Watch a report about schools serving rotten meat)
The USDA needs a wake-up call: The meat industry has tightened its standards in recent years, says Patti Hartigan in True/Slant, but "the Agricultural Marketing Service, the agency that buys meat for schools, hasn’t changed its standards since 2000." That's "unconscionable." The government has to do better, especially since, for many students who qualify for free school lunches, this is "their best — or only — meal of the day."
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