(JP)Feed for thought: The meat of mad cow issue

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http://www.asahi.com/english/national/K2001092601176.html

 

Feed for thought: The meat of mad cow issue

 

The Asahi Shimbun

 

Following recent confirmation by a British government

agency that a Japanese dairy cow was infected with mad

cow disease, all eyes have turned to meat and bone

meal (MBM)-a dietary supplement made from cattle bones

and internal organs and fed to livestock.

 

MBM is under scrutiny because it is considered the

prime suspect in the transmission of the deadly

disease.

 

Until recently, Japan was relatively unconcerned about

mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy

(BSE), which was first detected in Britain in 1986 and

which is thought to cause the fatal human variant

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

 

But that ended with the discovery of an infected

Holstein raised at a dairy farm in Shiroi, Chiba

Prefecture. The cow displayed one of the obvious

symptoms of the disease-it couldn't stand up.

 

The first suspected case in Japan was reported in the

media Sept. 10, and the British government confirmed

it last week.

 

After meat is taken from cattle, poultry and pigs, the

remaining bits are minced and the fat drained by

boiling or steaming. After drying, the product is

pulverized to make MBM. The process does not eliminate

the protein prion, considered the source of BSE.

 

The finished product has the appearance of dry

soil-brown and finely pulverized with white flecks of

bone. It is soft to the touch and smells like pet

food.

 

``Fresh MBM smells and tastes good,'' said Osamu

Hayakawa, associate professor of agricultural

management at Nihon University's College of

Bioresource Sciences. Hayakawa isn't just guessing-he

has tasted MBM.

 

It is not clear when farmers started to use MBM. The

current manufacturing method was established in the

United States around 1920 and was brought to Japan

after World War II along with other dairy and

livestock technology.

 

Because cows supply 30 to 40 liters of milk a day,

they need protein supplements in large quantities in

addition to nutrition acquired from grazing,

agricultural officials explained. An effective way to

do this is to use MBM because it is rich not only in

protein but also in minerals and vitamins.

 

Too much MBM intake, however, results in liver

disorders. Farmers, therefore, mix 2 to 3 percent MBM

into grain feed.

 

A farmer in Chiba Prefecture said, ``Fish powder mixed

in cow feed makes milk smell fishy, but with MBM we

don't have to worry about the smell.''

 

Japanese cattle have traditionally been fed remnants

of soy beans and fish powder. But with a surge in fish

prices in the 1990s, farmers turned to MBM, which cost

less.

 

At a time when the yen was doing well against foreign

currencies, imported MBM was one-third the price of

fish-mixed feed. Ironically, the timing coincided with

the emergence of mad cow disease in Europe.

 

Tokyo has advised against the use of MBM in cattle

feed since 1996, when the disease became rampant in

Britain. But it has continued to allow its use in feed

for poultry and pigs. MBM currently accounts for about

2 percent of ingredients in all livestock feed.

 

Nobody actually knows the exact number of cattle and

cows that consumed MBM before 1996, officials

acknowledge.

 

About 30 percent of MBM is imported, mostly from

Australia and New Zealand. Imports from Britain have

been banned since 1996.

 

For those involved in meat production, MBM is an

effective means of recycling.

 

If the bones and organs are not used they become

industrial waste and must be discarded.

 

``Farmers would have to shoulder the additional cost

of disposal. And the means of disposal and disposal

sites have become a significant environmental problem

in Britain,'' Hayakawa said.

 

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

also noted the importance of recycling in its set of

guidelines on MBM production compiled in June this

year.

 

Nevertheless, farmers and feed manufacturers are

moving away from MBM.

 

More than 100 tons MBM was piled out in the open at an

MBM manufacturer's plant in eastern Hokkaido on a

recent day.

 

The manufacturer could not ship the MBM because feed

producers around the country had canceled orders as

soon as news of a possible case of BSE hit the

headlines.

 

Every day the Hokkaido factory purchases 60 tons of

internal organs and bones for making MBM. If it were

to stop production, the plant would soon be awash in

organs and bones.

 

``So we just have to keep on producing (MBM),'' the

plant manager said.

 

The Chiba prefectural government on Sept. 22, the day

British authorities confirmed the case of mad cow

disease, advised farmers not to use MBM for any

livestock in the prefecture.

 

Meanwhile, an official of the Japan Variety-Meat

Association, comprising small businesses involved in

processing ingredients for MBM, said, ``If the central

government orders a ban on MBM, we will need

compensation.''

 

(09/26)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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