The U.S Department of Agriculture has mandated one of the largest meat recalls in U.S history after it determined a California slaughter house had pushed cows with poor health into the food chain.

A record 65 million kg of beef from the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company has been recalled, after the company allegedly slaughtered cattle unfit for human food.

The meat was sold to schools, emergency food recipients and Indian reservations.

U.S Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, said the packing plant had violated safeguards that protect against food borne disease by butchering non-ambulatory cattle.

U.S law forbids using such animals because of the danger of bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE, more widely known as mad cow disease.

The disease causes a wasting disorder in the animals and humans who consume infected meat.

The investigation and recall has followed the release of a video by the Humane Society of the U.S which shows workers kicking obviously sick cows and using electric prods and forklifts to make them move.