The June 21 feature "South Korean Netizens mad over mad cow" wastes a great deal of space detailing the more ridiculous fears of South Koreans while ignoring the very real threat that does exist, not only to Koreans but to Japanese alike.
In an April 27 article on spinal matter found in Japanese imports, a U.S. Trade Office report says, "The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) has provided the clear science-based view that U.S. beef is safe."
The reality, according to the international organization Grain (grain.org), is that that the United States tests only 1 percent of its cows per year and that the Bush administration got WOAH to declare U.S. beef trustworthy by changing the guidelines so that safety is now based on a "scientific risk assessment" of the safeguards that a country uses to keep BSE out of exports. The process has gradually lowered standards.
In 2001, The Japan Times was one of the few Japanese newspapers to cover efforts by the Japanese government to suppress Japan's then medium risk. With that in mind, please heed the words of Michael Greger, M.D., director of public health and animal agriculture for the Humane Society, and try to ensure that news coverage today meets the same high standards: "Before Japan started blanket testing in 2001, it found no cases. Now there have been more than 30. Simply put, the only way to ensure no mad cows enter the food supply is if you test them all. The test is cheap, about $25, which comes out to just pennies per pound of meat. Instead, the USDA has taken companies here in the U.S. to court to force them to STOP testing."
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