Schwarzenegger signs bill that ends secrecy about meat recalls

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill that allows California public health officers to notify the public of the names of retailers that receive USDA-recalled meat and poultry, so that consumers can better protect themselves from food-borne illnesses, reports Common Dream Newswire.

This responds to a 2002 agreement in which California’s Department of Health Services signed a secrecy agreement with USDA, agreeing not to release the names of the stores and restaurants where tainted, USDA-recalled beef and poultry have been shipped and sold.