(JP)Mad cow probe turns to fish in cattle-feed mix

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20011206a4.htm

 

Mad cow probe turns to fish in cattle-feed mix

 

Livestock farmers widely gave cows a type of feed made

from a mixture of powdered fish meal and meat-and-bone

meal until the government prohibited the use of

meat-and-bone meal in September because of its

suspected link to mad cow disease, industry sources

said Wednesday.

The mixed feed was originally developed for poultry,

but many farmers used the feed, known as adjusted fish

meal, for cows as well, the sources said.

 

Since the outbreak of mad cow disease in September,

the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has

been conducting a nationwide study on the use of

meat-and-bone meal for cows, but this special kind of

fish meal has not been targeted.

 

The ministry learned only recently about the

widespread use of adjusted fish meal and is checking

whether it had been fed to the three cows that have

been found to have mad cow disease, they said.

 

The findings may lead the ministry to expand its

survey to include cows that had been given the fish

meal. However, it is extremely difficult to

distinguish on the basis of appearance between fish

meal that is 100 percent derived from fish and the

adjusted feed containing meat-and-bone meal, according

to the sources.

 

" The only thing we can do is to trust what the

raw-ingredient makers say, " an official at a feed

manufacturer said.

 

A feed retailer said that if someone wants to confirm

the ingredients of fish meal products, the only help

would be " written pledges submitted by ingredient

makers that they are not using meat-and-bone meal, and

on-the-spot inspections. "

 

The farm ministry investigation has so far found that

165 households engaged in livestock farming had given

meat-and-bone meal intended for chickens and pigs to a

total of 5,129 cows.

 

According to ministry statistics, 195,000 tons of

powdered fish meal was produced as the raw material

for feed in fiscal 2000.

 

The outbreak in Japan, the first outside Europe, came

to light in September when a cow infected with mad cow

disease, formally known as bovine spongiform

encephalopathy, was found. The second case was

confirmed in November, and the third was confirmed

Sunday.

 

Human consumption of beef infected with BSE is thought

to cause a new variant of the fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob

disease, a brain-wasting illness that has led to the

deaths of more than 100 people in Europe.

 

The farm ministry's ongoing probe into the three

infected cows suggests Japan might have imported from

Europe meat-and-bone meal contaminated with

BSE-causing agents.

 

In a related development, members of the Hokkaido

chapter of the Japanese Communist Party said Wednesday

they suspect at least 3,000 cows on the northernmost

main island have been fed steamed bone meal, a variant

of meat-and-bone meal.

 

Three local livestock farming households bought the

meal, which is made from cow bones, from an unlicensed

feed retailer before giving it to their cows,

according to the party members.

 

Steamed bone meal is made by steaming the bones of

cows and other livestock at 280 degrees. The steamed

bones still contain protein and can thus be contagious

if the original cows were infected with BSE.

 

On Sept. 18, eight days after the discovery of the

first mad cow case, the government prohibited feeding

cows meal made from cows by revising regulations under

the Feed Safety Law.

 

On Oct. 15, the government stepped up the measure by

prohibiting feeding any livestock animals meal

containing animal protein.

 

On Nov. 1, based on expert recommendations, the

prohibition was partially lifted to allow chickens and

pigs to be given feed made from chickens or pigs. Such

feed is still banned for cows.

 

 

Beef prices falling

Beef prices came under further pressure following the

recent discovery of a third case of mad cow disease in

Japan during the government's nationwide inspection of

all cattle carcasses, the Agriculture, Forestry and

Fisheries Ministry said Wednesday.

Weighted average wholesale prices of beef recovered to

more than 1,000 yen per kilogram from late October to

early November when the Health, Labor and Welfare

Ministry began screening all carcasses of slaughtered

cattle on Oct. 18, after Japan's first case of mad cow

disease Sept. 22.

 

The prices plunged to around 600 yen after the second

infected cow was found Nov. 21, and the prices fell

further to around 500 yen earlier this week after the

third case was found Nov. 30.

 

The Japan Times: Dec. 6, 2001

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