The State - News from Jan. 4, 1985

The U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended two Southern California poultry companies from providing food to the federal school lunch program on grounds that the firms falsely represented that their products met government specifications. Cal-Pacific Poultry Inc. of Pomona and Beaumont Poultry Inc. of Beaumont, which are under the same management, were charged with having used an unauthorized stamp to falsify production dates, thus concealing the true age of products. The department said the firms did not sell their products directly to USDA but supplied boneless fowl to three other plants that sold chicken patties to the school lunch program in 39 states. Agriculture Secretary John R. Block said there is no evidence of a health threat from the products.