usbeef

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Sloppy government inspections exposed

The Japanese government has failed to verify that BSE high-risk parts are removed from U.S. beef before they are exported to Japan.

At the February 15 House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting, Japanese Communist Party member Takahashi Chizuko questioned if the government inspectors witnessed the removal of spinal cords and other risky parts from cattle at U.S. meat-packing facilities. Health Minister Kawasaki Jiro answered that they did.

However, at a meeting of the Food Safety Commission Prion Task Force on January 19, a Health Ministry official in charge of U.S. beef inspection said, "We could not witness the removal of spinal cords from cattle for beef to be shipped to Japan."

Agricultural Minister Nakagawa Shoichi said that the inspectors found out that 4 out of 11 meat-packing facilities in the U.S. did not identify the months of age of cattle.
- Akahata, February 16, 2006