The farm ministry, responding to the revelation that Snow Brand Foods Co. abused a government beef-buyback program implemented after the discovery of mad cow disease in Japan, began random inspections Friday of beef it bought from across the nation.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry also set up three task forces to deal with problems including plunging public trust in food labeling and the increasingly unfavorable business conditions faced by cattle farmers. The outbreak of mad cow disease and the Snow Brand Foods scandal have seriously harmed the food and dairy industries.
The inspections are to cover some 12,000 tons of beef purchased under the buyback program introduced in October -- a month after the first case of mad cow was confirmed and beef consumption had taken a nosedive.