Vendors Hesitate to Sell US Beef
Military, Schools and Hospitals Concerned Over Safety
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Consumer worries about the safety of U.S. beef are likely to dampen future sales here.
More and more food distributors, restaurants and schools are shunning sales and distribution of American cuts due to public fears over beef safety amid swirling rumors on the danger of mad cow disease.
The military has also joined the move. A spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense said Sunday that soldiers would not eat imported beef from the United States, Australia and New Zealand from August.
The spokesman said the plan was aimed at helping minimize possible damages of the local livestock market from full imports of U.S. beef.
The decision was made during a meeting late last month over military supplies, he said. Representatives from the military's three services, including the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation attended the meeting, he added.
In a bid to protect the local beef market, the representative agreed to stop importing foreign beef and provide service members with Korean beef for meals, said the spokesman.
``Beef from Australia and New Zealand, along with Korean beef, will be provided to soldiers until July,'' he said. ``Increasing expenses due to the supply of Korean beef will be funded by extra money from the defense budget.''
However, the spokesman dismissed speculation that the military chose to supply Korean beef fearful of the safety of U.S. beef.
``We plan to stop supplying all foreign beef, not just U.S. beef,'' he said. ``In addition, there is a military supply regulation that the military can balance the supply and demand flexibly in accordance with the situation on the local market.''
Currently, Korean soldiers have about 35 grams of beef ― 15 grams of Korean beef and 20 grams of beef from Australia or New Zealand a day, according to the ministry.
Schools are also concerned over the safety of U.S. beef.
Many middle and high schools are leaving the meat off their lunch menus.
For example, Incheon City recently decided not to serve students with foreign beef to help promote the sales of Korean beef. It also plans to strengthen monitoring over place-of-origin labels for beef to be provided to students.
South Korea, once one of the top three importers of U.S. beef, banned the product in 2003 after an outbreak of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) there.
Last month, Seoul announced it would import most cuts of beef, including ribs which were previously banned, from cattle aged over 30 months. It plans to apply new import sanitation rules from May 15 when U.S. beef will be available on the domestic market.
Public alarm was triggered after a television show reported Koreans were genetically more likely to contract variant Creutzfeld Jacob Disease (vCJD) ― thought to be caused by prion transmission from BSE infected cows ― than Westerners.
Scaremongers have been spreading rumors among the public via the Internet that the brain-wasting disease could be transmitted through nonfood products such as cosmetics, diapers and medicines, or through kissing and breathing germs.
Such rumors, in particular, stoked fears among young students who joined candlelit vigils in downtown Seoul urging the government to keep U.S. beef out of the country.
The country's major food distributors are struggling to promote themselves as ``non-American meat sellers'' to avoid a consumer backlash.
``We have no plans to make patties out of U.S. beef during this time when public fear is so high,'' said Chung Sung-hoon, a spokesman of Lotteria, the nation's largest fast food franchise.
Shinsegae Food, CJ Fresnway and other food suppliers, which provide catering services for cafeterias in schools, hospitals and companies, also said they won't switch over to U.S. beef until proper safety precautions are taken by the government.