SACRAMENTO -- California lawmakers want to know how to improve a federal meat inspection program that failed to stop the sale of beef from a slaughterhouse that violated health regulations.

The state Senate Select Committee on Food-Borne Illness took testimony Monday on the recall of 143 million pounds of beef shipped from a Chino slaughterhouse. Sick or lame cattle classified as unfit for human consumption appeared to have been included in the supply chain.

Some 50 million pounds of the beef were distributed to schools.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled the beef after the Humane Society of the United States released undercover video showing workers at the Westland-Hallmark Meat Co. kicking and shoving sick and crippled cows. They also forced them to stand using electric prods and forklifts.

Cows too sick to stand are banned from the food supply because they carry a higher risk of mad cow disease and other illnesses.