Cargill Checking How Bone-In Beef Went To S. Korea
US - U.S. agricultural conglomerate Cargill Inc. is investigating how beef containing banned parts was shipped to South Korea, which was prompted on Thursday to effectively block all U.S. beef imports.
3 August 2007
1 minute read
| National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service officials show a section of spine found in a shipment of U.S. beef on Thursday. |
"Cargill understands that a 37.6-pound (17 kg) box in a shipment of 41,128 pounds of beef labeled beef chuck eye roll contained one piece of bone-in short loin. The product was packaged at Cargill's beef plant in Friona, Texas," Cargill spokesman Mark Klein said in an e-mail.
South Korea currently accepts only boneless U.S. beef as protection against mad cow disease, but had been considering allowing imports of bone-in beef.
In addition to its own investigation, Cargill is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and South Korea as they conduct their own investigations, said Klein.
Pictures on the Internet show a South Korean inspector holding a large section of vertebra with some partial rib bones attached.
The vertebra in the Internet pictures was removed from the short loin, said Klein.
Source: Reuters AlertNet
