September 23, 2009
South Korea finds high amount of tainted meat imports
Staphylococcus aureus, a food poisoning bacterium, is found in one out of five pieces of imported meat, according to a report by South Korea's Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Monday (Sept 21).
Staphylococcus aureus was discovered in 19.3 percent of 57 consignments out of 295 shipments of imported meat.
The second most frequently discovered germ was Campylobacter jejuni at 4.1 percent and Listeria monocytogenes at 1.28 percent.
Staphylococcus aureus is destroyed at temperatures over 80 degrees Celsius, but its toxin can survive temperatures as high as 100 degrees Celsius. This bacterium was most frequented detected in Mexican beef, with 50 percent infected, followed by New Zealand beef at 19 percent, Australian beef at 11.1 percent and US beef at 10.5 percent.
The bacterium was also found in both shipments from Hungarian pork, 75 percent of Dutch pork and 50 percent of Danish pork.
The bacterium also showed up in two out of four Danish poultry shipments.
However, no specific measures are taken because germs get destroyed when cooked properly, according to an official at the Korea Food and Drug Administration.
