E. coli warnings were ignored at Buena Vista; no illness seen  
By David Migoya
Denver Post Staff Writer

Friday, July 26, 2002 - Hundreds of inmates at a Colorado prison were fed meatloaf that prison officials knew was made with ConAgra beef recalled because of E. coli contamination, The Denver Post has learned.
The details
- Click here for full list of recalled ConAgra beef products and other consumer information.
In all, about 2,500 pounds of recalled ground beef was dished up to inmates at Buena Vista Correctional Complex and two other state prisons since June 5. But only those at Buena Vista were knowingly served the meat, at lunch on Saturday, the Colorado Department of Corrections confirmed Thursday.

Inmates at the Buena Vista facility found recalled meat in a kitchen freezer Saturday and told prison officials. But instead of returning the meat for refund or replacement, as records show the Corrections Department has done in previous recalls, Buena Vista Warden Tony Reid ordered the ground beef cooked and served.

Corrections Executive Director Joe Ortiz and three officials who oversee prison operations didn't know of Reid's actions or that the prison system had any of 354,200 pounds of ground beef produced at ConAgra's slaughterhouse in Greeley, spokeswoman Alison Morgan said. The meat was recalled June 30 because of E. coli contamination.

Department officials learned of the problem from The Post.

"The decision to cook it was because they could prepare the meat safely," Morgan said. "We've been using (the meat) since June 5 and had no incidents because we meet health department standards that say any beef product must be cooked in excess of 160 degrees, and we thoroughly check our meat."

Reid could not be reached for comment. No disciplinary review is anticipated, Morgan said.

An aide to Gov. Bill Owens said corrections officials had made a mistake.

"It clearly was an erroneous decision to serve the recalled beef," spokesman Dan Hopkins said. "The executive director of corrections has assured the governor's office that such lapses will not occur in the future."

The ConAgra meat recall became the second largest in U.S. history when the company on July 19 expanded it to 18.6 million pounds.

"It sounds as if the Department of Corrections was deliberately and unnecessarily taking an unreasonable risk with the health of the inmates," said Mark Silverstein, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.

The identifying production code on packages of uneaten meat found in freezers at the prisons - Lot 42122 - shows them to be part of ConAgra's original recall, federal records show. That recall occurred 13 days after federal inspectors found E. coli 0157:H7, a potentially deadly form of the bacteria, in ConAgra meat being processed at a Denver business.

At Buena Vista, the beef was fashioned into 30 loafs and served with pepper strips, rice, vegetables, bread and a dessert. It is unclear how many prisoners ate the meat, Morgan said, but about 850 of the 1,230 inmates there show up for lunch each day. Some of the 150 guards on duty may have eaten the meal too, she said.

and your point is....[^]

why can't we use them for human test subject?

Why are we feeding them at all?

I think they should be fed stray cats and dogs that are put down at the pound.  Just my .02.

What you should really wonder is how much got fed to the military. I can't tell you how many times I found boxes of meat marked rejected from some federal pen being brought up to cook up for diner while I was in the Navy.

They knew what they had and they cooked it right and served it and nobody got harmed. The recall is just to keep the pink hamburger crowd from killing themselves.

I remember Nueces county back in the 80's recovered a stolen 18 wheeler full of carrots.

The load being perishable, the owner donated it. The dept fed boiled carrots to the inmates for ten days, three meals a day.

Many ACLU complaints followed.