In its continuing focus on food contamination problems, today’s edition of USA TODAY reports on beef and chicken quality—or the lack thereof—in school lunches.

McDonald’s, Burger King and Costco would not buy the beef the USDA sells to schools.

Colonel Sanders and Campbell Soup won’t buy the chicken.

To be fair, it is not that the USDA has not made some progress. In 2000, says the newspaper, the standards were upgraded for what would be sold to schools but these chains have continued to upgrade their standards, leaving the USDA’s supplies at the bottom of the list quality-wise.

All children need quality food. They are growing. They are developing eating patterns which influence them for the rest of their lives. Their immune systems are not as strong as adults’ immune systems. There is a long list of reasons why these lower standards—-lower than fast-food restaurants—will not do.

Next year, says this story, Congress will review the Child Nutrition Plan, through which this  food is sold to schools.

USA TODAY

“In the past three years, the government has provided the nation’s schools with millions of pounds of beef and chicken that wouldn’t meet the quality or safety standards of many fast-food restaurants, from Jack in the Box and other burger places to chicken chains such as KFC, a USA TODAY investigation found.

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the meat it buys for the National School Lunch Program “meets or exceeds standards in commercial products.”

“That isn’t always the case. McDonald’s, Burger King and Costco, for instance, are far more rigorous in checking for bacteria and dangerous pathogens. They test the ground beef they buy five to 10 times more often than the USDA tests beef made for schools during a typical production day.

“And the limits Jack in the Box and other big retailers set for certain bacteria in their burgers are up to 10 times more stringent than what the USDA sets for school beef.

“For chicken, the USDA has supplied schools with thousands of tons of meat from old birds that might otherwise go to compost or pet food. Called “spent hens” because they’re past their egg-laying prime, the chickens don’t pass muster with Colonel Sanders— KFC won’t buy them — and they don’t pass the soup test, either. The Campbell Soup Company says it stopped using them a decade ago based on “quality considerations.”

Source: USA TODAY, December 9, 2009