Report: Fast-food chains may have safer meat than schools

A USA Today investigation is creating quite a stir by revealing that the meat provided by the government to public schools wouldn't meet the safety standards of many fast-food restaurants.

Through the National School Lunch program, nearly every school district in the country receives donations of U.S. Department of Agriculture meat. And the government organization told USA Today that their product "meets or exceeds standards in commercial products." What's more, the USDA rules for meat sent to schools are more strict than those for for meat sold at supermarkets.

But reporters discovered the government rules aren't as stringent as those for fast-food chains. Here's what they found:

McDonald's, Burger King and Costco 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.

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."

"We simply are not giving our kids in schools the same level of quality and safety as you get when you go to many fast-food restaurants," J. Glenn Morris, professor of medicine and director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida, told USA Today. "We are not using those same standards."

Should San Francisco parents whose children are eating lunch at public schools be concerned? USDA meat is used in the school lunches.

"Preferred Meal Systems, our food vendor, has systems in place such as microbiological testing at all stages of production from incoming ingredients to finished products to ensure the safety of the food," says Ed Wilkins, SFUSD director of student nutrition services. "This is outlined in their bid proposal to the district (every 5 years, SFUSD has a competitive bidding process for its meal delivery system). They also have systems in place to track the source of all products so that products can be swiftly recalled if necessary."