The United States Department of Agriculture announced on Friday that it will adjust its policy regarding the identification and public naming of the retailers who have received recalled meat, but only in those situations that represent the most critical health threats.

According to Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer, the cautions will be released only in Class I recalls, that strongly jeopardize public health. Moreover, the regulation will commence in August, 30 days after it is issued in the Federal Register.

The U.S.D.A. was widely attacked this year for not accepting to name retail stores and schools that had been provided with ground beef recalled by Westland/Hallmark Meat, stating privacy concerns. Furthermore, that certain recall, involving 143 million pounds, represented the biggest beef recall in the nation’s history.

Rosa DeLauro, the representative who chairs the House appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, said the U.S.D.A. bid is not strong enough and does not take all cases into consideration. In addition to this, the rule would not have applied to the Westland/Hallmark case, which was a Class II recall.

Richard Raymond, the department's undersecretary for food safety, explained that Class II recalls do not pose a certain danger to the health of consumers, while Class I recalls represent an almost definite threat to public healthiness.

However, Rosa DeLauro expressed her disappointment regarding the conditions of the new ruling and stated that it would be for the best to apply the decision to all recalls.

Westland/Hallmark withdrew in February a quantity of ground beef that had been produced in approximately 2 years, after the publication of an undercover video showing workers using electric prods to get disabled animals back on their feet. The video implied that the ailing animals may have circumvented necessary health examinations before being slaughtered.