December 19, 2007

Dutch fat suspected of causing mad cow disease in Japan

Japanese authorities say they suspect milk containing Dutch-made fat may have caused mad cow disease in the country, Kyodo News service reported.

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries found that as much as a third of the more than 30 cases of mad cow disease found in Japan could be strongly linked to alternative milk made from powdered animal fat produced by a feed plant in the Netherlands,

The ministry said it is strongly possible 13 cows born in the Hokkaido or Kanto regions between 1995 and 1996 could have been infected this way.

Alternative milk, which uses mostly skim milk, is fed to calves in their early stages of life.

However, the ministry said the investigations were ongoing, as Dutch and other sources have ruled out animal fat as a cause for the disease.