Guest guest Posted September 30, 2001 Report Share Posted September 30, 2001 http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/geted.pl5?ed20010929a1.htm EDITORIAL Saturday, September 29, 2001 Eradicating mad cow disease When a diagnosis confirmed that a dairy cow in Chiba Prefecture had had mad cow disease, Japan became the first country in East Asia where the disease had been detected. The government must be censured for its optimistic view that there would be " little danger of an outbreak of mad cow disease " in Japan. The bitter experiences of Britain and other European countries, where lack of awareness of the seriousness of this infectious disease allowed it to become rampant, should now prod Japan to take countermeasures as soon as possible. It is important to adopt an approach that eliminates health risks for the future. Food safety must come first. If public confidence in safety is shaken, then the livestock industry will be in deep trouble. Countermeasures in Europe can serve as a model. Basically, it is necessary to implement thorough testing of beef for consumption and to ban the processing of scrap meat and bone into bonemeal for use as feed, which is thought to be the infection route for the disease. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has ordered the inspection of all beef cattle at least 30 months old, as they are considered to be especially vulnerable to this disease. The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, meanwhile, intends to halt imports of bonemeal, but it has not yet prohibited domestic production. This dull response begs the question, does the ministry fully sense the danger from the disease? Initially, the Heath Ministry was reluctant to carry out a thorough testing of cattle, saying it would be difficult because of, among other things, the lack of testing capabilities. But the ministry hastily changed its policy and decided to introduce a testing program on a par with those of Europe following an explosion of public criticism and anxiety among consumers. The protein prions that are the source of mad cow disease exist in the brain, spinal cord, eyes and other parts of cattle, but usually do not appear in the meat or milk used for human consumption. As it is necessary when cattle are slaughtered to make sure that these parts are not attached to the meat to be consumed, there is no cause for immediate alarm about meat safety. Some schools have stopped serving beef at lunch, but this seems to be going a little too far. Confidence in the administration of countermeasures is essential to encourage consumers to behave calmly and to prevent scaremongering. Following the diagnosis of mad cow disease in Chiba Prefecture, the Agriculture Ministry falsely announced that the infected cow had been incinerated -- when the truth was that bonemeal processed from the cow had been distributed to feed warehouses. The first step in eradicating an infectious disease is cutting off the source of infection. Mad cow disease does not spread directly from cow to cow or from cow to human. Cattle are infected if they eat the bonemeal processed from a diseased animal. Infected bonemeal is thought to be the main source. In 1996, the Agriculture Ministry issued guidelines that said bonemeal processed from cattle could be fed to pigs and chickens but should not be fed to other cattle. However, compound cattle feed mixtures that included bonemeal from cattle has been used in several prefectures. The administrative guidance and notification did not reach as far as the farms. Imports of bonemeal from Europe, which was the source of mad cow disease, had increased rapidly until last year. Although it is difficult to specifically identify the infection route in the case of the cow in Chiba Prefecture, it is fair to suggest that the cow became infected because of the use of feed made from scrap meat and bonemeal. So far, testing has been slipshod. Undoubtedly, there have been oversights. If testing is implemented thoroughly, the number of cows found to have the disease can be expected to increase. Even now, there remains the danger that mad cow disease will spread via bonemeal, as a cow needs to consume only a small amount of feed to become infected. Banning the use of scrap meat and bonemeal for cattle feed won't be enough to break the infection route. As in Europe, Japan must prohibit the production of such feed. Since about 40 percent of a cow's body is not used to produce meat for human consumption, the incineration of scrap carcasses will add to costs and place a burden on Japan's environment. About 1.3 million head are slaughtered each year. Nevertheless, Japan should move to ban the production of bonemeal from scrap meat and bones. There is no reason why countermeasures that are possible in Europe cannot be implemented in Japan, too -- even if they entail an increase in production costs. This is unavoidable to ensure food safety. The Japan Times: Sept. 29, 2001 © All rights reserved Listen to your Mail messages from any phone. http://phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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