Banned Beef Found in Pork Sausage Shipment
JAPAN - The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry suspended imports of pork and processed pork from Austria yesterday after finding a shipment of sausages from an Austrian company that contained banned beef.
17 February 2010
2 minute read
The 4.8 kilograms of sausages containing beef did not enter the Japanese market, the ministry said. Japan imposed a ban on beef imports from the European Union in 2001 following a number of cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy-infected cattle in some EU countries.
The sausages were processed by Austrian producer Hutthaler, according to the ministry, according to Breitbart.
A member of the quarantine staff at Chubu International Airport found the sausages on Monday after seeing an inspection certificate issued by the Austrian government that stated the sausages contained beef, the ministry said.
The ministry has called on the Austrian government to take remedial action.
Austria is the second EU country, following Sweden, from which banned beef has been imported and found in Japan.
