(JP)Products using beef extract not exempt in mad cow scare

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20011026b2.htm

 

Products using beef extract not exempt in mad cow

scare

 

By ERIC JOHNSTON

Staff writer

 

OSAKA -- Despite the government's repeated assurances,

it is not clear how soon domestic beef consumption

will recover to levels before the nation was hit by

the mad cow scare in September. But consumer advocates

have warned that the threat of the disease does not

come from beef alone.

 

One of the ingredients commonly used in instant

noodles, instant soup, pralines and other prepackaged

foods is beef extract, which includes oil from cows'

heads.

 

Since the nation's first mad cow case surfaced at a

farm in Chiba Prefecture last month, instant noodle

makers have had tests done on products using beef

extract under orders from the Agriculture, Forestry

and Fisheries Ministry.

 

All beef extract drawn from bovine parts that the

World Health Organization has designated as

potentially risky must be checked. The ministry will

collect information from the food processing industry

and issue a final report.

 

Mindful of the public criticism against Snow Brand

Milk Products over its slow response to the

food-poisoning outbreak stemming from its contaminated

milk products last year, several major processed food

makers have published their efforts to ensure safety

of their products on the Internet in an attempt to

calm jittery consumers.

 

At Osaka-based Nissin Food Products Co., one of the

country's largest producers of instant noodles in a

cup, these efforts include notifying customers that

the company uses beef from Australia, the United

States and New Zealand, where no mad cow cases have

been reported. The disease has surfaced in 16

countries so far, mostly in Europe.

 

" We conducted checks (of the firm's products) over a

period of nearly three weeks, and they revealed no

problems, " said Ken Sasahara, a Nissin Food spokesman.

 

The company also received guarantees from both

domestic and international suppliers of beef extract

that their products did not include extract from

brains and other parts of cows deemed as particularly

susceptible to mad cow disease.

 

" From the first of October, we also began replacing

domestic beef extract that is used in soups with

extract from the U.S. and Australia, " Sasahara said.

 

Tokyo-based Sanyo Foods also announced in mid-October

that it too was replacing a portion of its beef

extract that had been supplied by Japanese

manufacturers with extract from Australia and the

U.S., and that it had obtained guarantees from all

suppliers that bovine parts designated as susceptible

to mad cow disease were not being used.

 

" We conducted checks on all of our products, and have

been sending inspectors from our company to check

domestic suppliers of beef extract. We also set up a

telephone consultation service for public queries, "

said Kenji Kinoshita, a Sanyo Foods spokesman.

 

Nobuko Hiwasa, secretary general of the consumer

watchdog group National Liaison Committee of

Consumers' Organizations, agreed there is a low risk

of the disease in instant noodles, including ramen.

 

" The makers of instant noodles and ramen use almost

entirely beef extract imported from the U.S.,

Australia and New Zealand, so we believe it is

unlikely that instant ramen was affected, " Hiwasa

said.

 

But she added that, as it is logistically impossible

to check every packet of instant noodles, and as there

are few outside experts available to independently

inspect those products, there is little the public can

do to verify manufacturers' assurances that everything

is safe.

 

" In the end, all we can really do is trust the

manufacturers when they say their own inspections

revealed no problems, " Hiwasa said.

 

Both Nissin and Sanyo claim that sales of instant

noodle products have not been affected. However, some

convenience stores are reporting that sales have

slowed considerably.

 

" We've seen a sales slowdown. I think that a lot of

people are still scared, " said Mika Hasegawa, an

employee at a Lawson convenience store near JR

Kyobashi Station in Osaka.

 

The Japan Times: Oct. 26, 2001

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