Guest guest Posted October 30, 2001 Report Share Posted October 30, 2001 http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20011031b1.htm Public skeptical about safety of Japanese beef More than 56 percent of the public do not believe the government declaration made earlier this month that domestic beef is safe from mad cow disease, according to a Kyodo News survey released Tuesday. In addition, nearly four out of five respondents consider health authorities' handling of the matter problematic. According to the nationwide phone survey carried out over the weekend, 56.7 percent of respondents said the Sept. 18 declaration is " not believable " or " rather unbelievable, " surpassing the 41.1 percent of those who said it can be trusted " totally " or " to a certain extent. " The telephone survey was conducted using numbers randomly selected by computers. A total of 1,620 households were contacted and 1,060 responded. Nearly 80 percent of respondents said the handling of the matter by the central and local governments was questionable. Moreover, 38 percent said they had reduced their beef intake, while 24.1 percent said they had stopped eating beef completely, underlining the level of distrust in public health authorities, whose countermeasures were thought to be slow. Underlining the respondents' claims, major supermarket stores told Kyodo News that beef sales in October were 40 percent to 70 percent less than a year earlier. Among members of a national organization of restaurants serving grilled meat dishes, 44 percent reported a year-on-year decline in sales of over 50 percent between mid-September and mid-October. According to data provided by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the wholesale price of beef is now around 700 yen to 800 yen per kg, down from around 1,200 yen before Sept. 10, when a cow in Chiba Prefecture was confirmed as the nation's first carrier of mad cow disease. Among those who saw problems in the way authorities handled the matter, 38.4 percent said the government was too slow to ban the use of meat-and-bone meal, the type of cow feed believed to be the prime source of infection for the disease. Another 25 percent said there was some confusion in government announcements, while 15.6 percent said authorities were short on explanations about the safety of beef. Some 12.4 percent believed the mad cow infection routes had not been fully determined. Only 23.6 percent of respondents said they still consume the same quantity of beef as before. The Japan Times: Oct. 31, 2001 © All rights reserved Make a great connection at Personals. http://personals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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