A
Anonymous
Guest
I thought this article was interesting- again the multinational Corporates and the USDA say they can keep track of and will verify Country of Origin for another country on imported beef (like they did for Japan, Korea, and several other countries previously)-- But they still won't do it for the US CONSUMER.....
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6/13/2007 1:39:00 PM
Aussies In A Tizzy Over Alleged U.S. Beef Imports
The Australian Beef Association is demanding that the federal government revise beef-import regulations after the group found canned beef product from the United States in local supermarkets, according to news reports.
ABA members claimed this week they found canned beef product manufactured in the United States by Austin, Minn.-based Hormel Foods, spurring an outcry because Australia bars U.S. beef imports on fears of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
However, Australia's Quarantine and Inspection Authority says the beef hails from BSE-free countries, but are processed for export in the United States.
"Products imported from the U.S. must be certified as containing beef sourced only from Australia, New Zealand or Brazil, which all share the highest BSE risk rating," Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran told reporters.
Source switch
Hormel Australia general manager Scott Martin, said his company has imported Stagg chili and beans into Australia since 1998, explaining that they'd contained U.S. ground beef until America's first case of BSE in December 2003, and afterward precooked beef from Brazil.
"The only U.S. product in the Stagg cans is the beans and sauce ingredients — not the beef," Martin said.
But ABA doesn't buy it. John Carter, one of the group's directors, said existing labeling laws are lax.
"Who is supervising the fact that the beef that's going into these cans is coming from Australia or New Zealand or anywhere else?" he asked. "There's no regulatory body that would be in control of it."
The federal government points out that AQIA inspects imported foods, including that which comes from the United States.
Source: Tom Johnston on 6/13/2007 for Meatingplace.com
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6/13/2007 1:39:00 PM
Aussies In A Tizzy Over Alleged U.S. Beef Imports
The Australian Beef Association is demanding that the federal government revise beef-import regulations after the group found canned beef product from the United States in local supermarkets, according to news reports.
ABA members claimed this week they found canned beef product manufactured in the United States by Austin, Minn.-based Hormel Foods, spurring an outcry because Australia bars U.S. beef imports on fears of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
However, Australia's Quarantine and Inspection Authority says the beef hails from BSE-free countries, but are processed for export in the United States.
"Products imported from the U.S. must be certified as containing beef sourced only from Australia, New Zealand or Brazil, which all share the highest BSE risk rating," Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran told reporters.
Source switch
Hormel Australia general manager Scott Martin, said his company has imported Stagg chili and beans into Australia since 1998, explaining that they'd contained U.S. ground beef until America's first case of BSE in December 2003, and afterward precooked beef from Brazil.
"The only U.S. product in the Stagg cans is the beans and sauce ingredients — not the beef," Martin said.
But ABA doesn't buy it. John Carter, one of the group's directors, said existing labeling laws are lax.
"Who is supervising the fact that the beef that's going into these cans is coming from Australia or New Zealand or anywhere else?" he asked. "There's no regulatory body that would be in control of it."
The federal government points out that AQIA inspects imported foods, including that which comes from the United States.
Source: Tom Johnston on 6/13/2007 for Meatingplace.com