US beef to be on sale after Chusok
Korea Times
US Beef to Be on Sale After Chusok
By Kim Yon-se, Staff Reporter
4 October 2006
U.S. beef will likely be distributed in the domestic market soon after the Chusok holidays following the government’s decision to resume imports early September.
The primary issue is mad cow disease. In late September, about 1,200 public health-related experts, comprised of 207 medical doctors, 144 oriental medical doctors, 344 pharmacists and 111 veterinarians, issued a warning that U.S. beef is still unsafe to eat.
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a disease beyond medical treatment for now,'' they said in a statement, staging a rally in front of the U.S. Embassy building in downtown Seoul.It is a fatal disease with a lethality rate of 100 percent,’’ they stressed.
Pointing out the government’s loose oversight of meat distribution channels, the doctors and pharmacists said there is a possibility that U.S. beef will be disguised as domestic beef. Some consumers will eat U.S. beef by mistaking it for beef produced in other countries,'' the statement said.
Many U.S. civic organizations are also warning about the risks of eating U.S. beef.
The Organic Consumers Association headquartered in Minnesota State argued that the U.S. is violating all four concrete recommendations laid down by the World Health Organization (WTO) to prevent the spread of mad cow disease to humans.Inadequate testing of the brains of U.S. cattle is likely missing hundreds of cases of BSE and inadequate testing of the brains of human dementia victims is likely missing hundreds of cases of the human spongiform encephalopathy,’’ the OCA said.
According to statistics of the Food Safety and Inspection Service, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1,036 cases of sanitary rule-violations were detected between 2004 and 2005 in slaughterhouses across the country.
Lifting a ban on U.S. beef imports was the one of the U.S.’ four demands requiring prior settlement for opening talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea.
