Japan will ban U.S. beef again!

Japanese consumer groups voiced anger and shoppers expressed concern Friday, as a cow backbone, which is among the parts designated as risk material for BSE, were found at Narita airport in a shipment of beef imported from the United States.

"What on earth did a mission dispatched to the United States late last year check?" said Hiroko Mizuhara, chief of the Consumer Union of Japan. "They were fooled by the United States. The problem cannot be limited to the meat processor in question. We want the government to check all authorized exporters thoroughly," she said.

Junichi Kowaka, who heads the Japan Offspring Fund, an entity for food and living, said, "I had thought something like this would happen eventually, but it has happened surprisingly fast.

"There are meat-processing facilities that have high safety standards in the United States, too. Japan should think of ways to choose such processors on its own rather than looking to the United States to choose them," said Kowaka, the author of a book on risky food products.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he endorsed a proposal from farm minister Shoichi Nakagawa to halt U.S. beef imports completely due to the discovery, according to Kyodo.

(The photo is from Yomiuri Shimbun and I just love the caption: "Employees working at the Animal Health Division of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry's Food Safety and Consumer Affairs Bureau on Friday night")