Japan suspends beef shipments from Kansas company after finding bovine spinal columns

[Coventina]

Source: Los Angeles Times

TOKYO (AP) — A Kansas meat packer that fought U.S. authorities to test its entire herd for mad cow disease was hit with a suspension by Japan this week for shipping banned animal parts.

The decision came after Japanese inspectors Tuesday found bovine spinal columns — prohibited under a bilateral trade agreement — in two of 810 boxes sent by Creekstone Farms Premium Beef.

No problems were detected in the remaining 808 boxes, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Under the terms of the trade agreement, U.S. beef shipped to Japan can come only from cattle age 20 months and younger, which are thought to pose less of a risk of the mad cow disease.

U.S. exporters must also remove spinal columns, brain tissue and other parts considered "risk materials."

Mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a degenerative nerve disease in cattle. In humans, eating meat products contaminated with the illness is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal malady.




Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-as-japan-kansas-beef,0,3176093.story

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And this from a company that holds itself to a higher standard than what is required by the US gov't!

[kristopher]

1. "a company that holds itself to a higher standard "

Not necessarily. AFAIK they WANTED to operate at a higher standard, but since it was disallowed they can't increase market share by testing and letting people know they are doing it. Since they can't benefit, why would they incur added costs that would potentially put them out of business?

[Coventina]

2. Good point. n/t

[OwnedByFerrets]

3. There really is NO telling what kind of shit (literally) we poor

folks eat in our beef (meat products). I wish I could afford to buy grass fed organic beef, but my salary wont allow it. Eating healthy is for the upper crust.

[Coventina]

5. I quit eating beef in the early 90s, when the first reports of

mad cow came out.

It scared the owl poop out of me. I don't miss it a bit.

Now, I don't make the claim that the choice guarantees me "safety" in my eating.

I think food safety in general is practically non-existent in this country, especially after the oversight entities were gutted by Bushco.

[pinniped]

11. I quit eating beef around 93, but not because of mad cow.

I just didn't feel like eating beef anymore.

[KamaAina]

12. Agreed, except

the oversight entities were gutted by Raygun. Bushco merely stomped on their remains. :eyes:

[ensho]

4. kick

nt

[tomm2thumbs]

6. k&R

[evilkumquat]

7. I'm Not Bothered

I think how far humans have come in the last 20,000 years of food preparation and hygiene and feel that even with the shortsighted stupidity we suffered in the last eight years of mismanagement and gutting of oversight, the odds of any of us dying from contaminated food is so low, it is hardly worth mentioning.

Having said this, I still wholeheartedly support full governmental regulation of our food supply.

That's just common sense.

[NickB79]

15. Food prep and hygiene doesn't really stop Mad Cow/CJD, though

The prions that cause the disease can survive past 500F.

[dgibby]

8. I feel sorry for this company.

They tried to do the right thing. Talk about no good deed goes unpunished.

[yellowcanine]

14. Shipping spinal columns is doing the right thing? Come on. Regardless of what else they may have

done, they need to take responsibility for a screw up like that. One has to rightly wonder about the level of quality control in the whole plant and whether the desire to test for mad cow was just so much window dressing.

[Critters2]

9. Not a problem for me. I don't eat dead animals,

with or without spinal columns.

[Javaman]

10. This is why I get my meat directly from farmers that raise grass fed cows

and use a local slaughterer to cut the beef. Factory slaughter houses will crank out up to 90 cows a minute on one line.

How in the hell can a person or company guarantee properly cleaned beef when the workers have less than a few seconds per station to do their part of their cutting?

The answer: they can't.

And on top of that the FDA and the USDA are so grossly underfunded and understaffed, it's really a miracle at this point why there hasn't been more contamination of our meet supply in this nation. Oh wait...

HSUS Investigation Leads to Largest Beef Recall in U.S. History
http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/beef_recall_02182008.html

In the wake of the staggering recall of 143 million pounds of beef

Colorado Firm Recalls Beef Products Due To Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_034_2009_ReleaSe/index.asp

and the list goes on and on and on...

[Romulox]

13. I wish I lived in a country that strictly monitored the food supply...

Odds that the boxes containing spinal material ship to US consumers were intercepted? 0%