Today 12/1/2006 7:19:00 AM
Top Story: South Korea To Stop Beef Imports From US Abattoir
SEOUL (AP)--South Korea said Friday it would suspend imports of American beef from a U.S. slaughterhouse after government inspectors found three pieces of bone in a shipment.
The National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service said the shipment containing the bone came from Premium Protein Products LLC, a beef processing plant in Hastings, Nebraska.
The move came a week after Seoul suspended beef imports from a Kansas slaughterhouse after a tiny piece of bone was found in a shipment of meat.
South Korea, which had banned U.S. beef for almost three years over fears of mad cow disease, said in September it would allow shipments under strict regulations, which included that imported beef must be boneless. The three fragments found in the Nebraska shipment measured 22 millimeters, 13 millimeters and 7 millimeters.
They were discovered in a 3.2 ton shipment that arrived on Nov. 23, according to the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry. The ministry said the bone material was not considered to be "specified risk material," such as the vertebral column, or backbone, brain, skull, eyes, spinal cord and other nerve tissue, all of which can carry mad cow disease. Still, as in the Kansas case, the ministry said the beef would either be returned to the U.S. or discarded.
Premium Protein Products, based in Hastings, about 210 kilometers Omaha, expressed surprise at the discovery. "Until we learn more about how big the bone fragment is and what it looks like, it's a little difficult to comment," said CEO Steve Sands.
"We were quite surprised given how close our Korean customer was involved." Sands said the Korean customer had been in the plant and "was very involved in every aspect of the production."
Sands did not think the case would affect the company's shipments to its other markets, including Japan and Mexico. South Korea barred U.S. beef imports in December 2003 after the first reported U.S. case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
The country was the third-largest foreign market for U.S. beef before the ban. Scientists believe mad cow disease spreads when farmers feed cattle recycled meat and bones from infected animals. It is also believed to be linked to a rare fatal human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
In January, South Korea agreed to resume U.S. beef imports on a limited basis. It would import only boneless meat from cattle younger than 30 months old, because of the belief that some material inside bones could be dangerous to consume and younger animals are considered at less risk of the disease.
The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry designated 36 U.S. slaughterhouses to handle meat for export to South Korea after ensuring they met required safety measures. With the two suspensions, that number is now 34.
Top Story: South Korea To Stop Beef Imports From US Abattoir
SEOUL (AP)--South Korea said Friday it would suspend imports of American beef from a U.S. slaughterhouse after government inspectors found three pieces of bone in a shipment.
The National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service said the shipment containing the bone came from Premium Protein Products LLC, a beef processing plant in Hastings, Nebraska.
The move came a week after Seoul suspended beef imports from a Kansas slaughterhouse after a tiny piece of bone was found in a shipment of meat.
South Korea, which had banned U.S. beef for almost three years over fears of mad cow disease, said in September it would allow shipments under strict regulations, which included that imported beef must be boneless. The three fragments found in the Nebraska shipment measured 22 millimeters, 13 millimeters and 7 millimeters.
They were discovered in a 3.2 ton shipment that arrived on Nov. 23, according to the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry. The ministry said the bone material was not considered to be "specified risk material," such as the vertebral column, or backbone, brain, skull, eyes, spinal cord and other nerve tissue, all of which can carry mad cow disease. Still, as in the Kansas case, the ministry said the beef would either be returned to the U.S. or discarded.
Premium Protein Products, based in Hastings, about 210 kilometers Omaha, expressed surprise at the discovery. "Until we learn more about how big the bone fragment is and what it looks like, it's a little difficult to comment," said CEO Steve Sands.
"We were quite surprised given how close our Korean customer was involved." Sands said the Korean customer had been in the plant and "was very involved in every aspect of the production."
Sands did not think the case would affect the company's shipments to its other markets, including Japan and Mexico. South Korea barred U.S. beef imports in December 2003 after the first reported U.S. case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
The country was the third-largest foreign market for U.S. beef before the ban. Scientists believe mad cow disease spreads when farmers feed cattle recycled meat and bones from infected animals. It is also believed to be linked to a rare fatal human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
In January, South Korea agreed to resume U.S. beef imports on a limited basis. It would import only boneless meat from cattle younger than 30 months old, because of the belief that some material inside bones could be dangerous to consume and younger animals are considered at less risk of the disease.
The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry designated 36 U.S. slaughterhouses to handle meat for export to South Korea after ensuring they met required safety measures. With the two suspensions, that number is now 34.