November 24, 2006

 

South Korea bans sale of beef from first US shipment

 

 

South Korea decided Friday, Nov 24 not to allow the first shipment of US beef to be sold in the country after discovering a bone fragment in a package.

 

The discovery is expected to fuel health concerns about the safety of US beef.

 

South Korea resumed imports of boneless American beef from cows under 30 months old in early September, ending a three-year ban. The ban was imposed following an outcry over mad-cow disease in the US.

 

The first shipment after the resumption of US beef imports, containing about 8.9 tonnes of beef arrived on Oct 30.

 

The South Korean authorities were shocked to discover bone fragment in a package containing chuck flap tail meat, said Kang Mun-il, chief of the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service.

 

He said the fragment was not attached to meat and might have gotten into the package by mistake. US meat processing centres use machine tools to separate bones from meat, raising the possibility of some bone fragments getting into packages.

 

Though he confirmed a detailed examination had revealed that the bone did not pose any health risks to humans, Seoul still decided to ban its sale in the country adhering to the agreement with the US signed earlier of not buying beef with bones.

 

The particular US meat processing centre would also be barred from exporting meat to South Korea. The entire shipment would either be sent back or destroyed, Kang said.

 

Bone parts and specified risk materials such as brains, spinal cord marrow, backbones, and certain internal organs carry a higher risk of spreading mad-cow disease to humans.