The discovery of the second case of mad cow disease in the United States and the accompanying rise in public anxiety will not affect Japan's attempt to resume imports of U.S. beef, the government said Thursday.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said the impact of a positive test in the second U.S. case of the brain-wasting illness, officially known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, had already been taken into account when Japan agreed with the U.S. last October to work on resuming imports.
Despite the risk of eating untested U.S. beef, Japan can ensure food safety by limiting imports to beef from animals slaughtered at the age of 20 months or younger, and by strictly ruling out the use of risky parts, including the brain, the ministry said.