On April 23, a spinal column, a part of the cow that is banned from import because it is considered at risk of spreading mad cow disease, was found in a shipment of beef from the United States. Though this violated a beef trade accord between Japan and the U.S., Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said that the incident involves no systemic problems related to the U.S. project for Japan-destined beef export.
Nevertheless, the government should make a concrete request to the U.S. for the improvement of meat-facility worker-training schemes, so that we can be reassured that the Japanese conditions for beef exports are strictly followed.
The spinal column was found at a factory of the Yoshinoya "gyudon" (beef bowl) chain in a box of beef imported from a processing facility in California. Yoshinoya discarded all the boxes in that shipment. The Daiei supermarket chain and a few others suspended their sales of the product from the California facility.