Japan halts US beef imports

News.com.au ^

[hole_n_one]

Japan halts US beef imports
From correspondents in Tokyo
December 24, 2003

JAPAN has temporarily banned the import of American beef after the US reported its first suspected case of mad cow disease, an official said today.

"We are now withholding the issuance of import permits" on US beef, said Japanese agriculture ministry spokesman Hiroaki Ogura.

"That means for now, (beef) imports have been banned."

He said the measure enacted early this morning was temporary until further information could be gathered.

US Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced that a cow from Washington state had tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.

Japan is the number one export market for US beef, accounting for 32 per cent

[torstars]

assume it ends up in some bigger lot of meat that would be a pain to recall,

Yes. it may be a major pain since it may have already been eaten!

[torstars]

Hiding the problem,

It may have already been flushed down the toilet.

[torstars]

the only way to isolate disease within a wild herd is to exterminate the whole herd.

This has been tried without success.

[Freedom2specul8]

"We did the same thing to Canada"

Hence the reason a family package of hamburger now costs $12-14.. $11 on sale.

[Oorang]

Some suspect transmission may have occurred via animal feed (which would then seem likely to have infected many cattle).

I was under the impression that feeding cattle products that contain beef protein was the commonly accepted cause of MCD. If this is not the case do the "experts" have any idea what the source cause is?

[TBall]

Looks like the price of chicken will be going up. I look forward to eating more steak.

[Lokibob]

Assuming a family package of hamburger is 3 lbs it is about the same price here ($3.50 lb).

[Freedom2specul8]

Isn't that awful?!!!! It really ticks me off. Why does local beef have to cost more...than imported beef.

[The Duke]

What's the big fuss about - mad cow disease doesn't do anything that sitting in front of a TeeVee all night doesn't do.

[Beck_isright]

Don't believe for a minute that it's just one cow.

[torstars]

I looked at pictures of Interstate Meats processing plant in Orgeon and it looks to be a substantial facility. I look for a large hamburger recall.

[torstars]

Singapore has also imposed a ban on US meat.

[torstars]

Here are pictures of Interstate Meats facility in Oregon.

[Howlin]

You seem to be pushing the panic button repeatedly; how many threads about this are you on anyway?

[dogbyte12]

This will be bad for the cattle industry, good for consumers, (if it's just isolated), and there is a big bunch of fear mongering going on. US beef is going to be banned across Europe by the time we wake up tomorrow. No matter how safe it is. The producers are going to have to dump it on the US market, which will shrink because of hysteria, leading to dramatically reduced prices as everybody tries to offload it.

I recommend everybody clean out their garage freezer, wait a few days, and stock up. If the problem is not isolated, you can dump it, if not, you have saved a ton of money

[torstars]

Add Malaysia and Taiwan to Singapore, S Korea, and Japan.

[torstars]

You seem to be pushing the panic button repeatedly

Just the facts

[Howlin]

So you say.

[Peace will be here soon]

....the US reported its first "suspected" case of mad cow disease, an official said today.

---

I guess if they do verify it. Americans will go absolutely nuts ( not me though ). I don`t eat alot of beef, but I will enjoy a steak once in a great while ( I think I only had 3 or 4 this year ). I rarely eat hamburgers , or hamburger in general. It would really suck to have a big recall on beef products. Right now, I am taking a what and see attitude. But all this talk got me thinkin about a big juicy steak about now. Steaks taste real good if you haven`t had one for awhile. It has been a few months , so now I have the hankerin for one. Does Outback get their beef from Australia?

[nmh]

Yeah and we, the U.S. are supposed to EAT the part not contaminated? LOL! How come England DESTROYED the ENTIRE animal when it was determine d to HAVE mad cow disease.

Forget beef for a long time!