Anger at blacked-out BSE report


Consumers Union of Japan is angry because the official report from the December 13-24 2005 inspections of U.S. meat plants by the Japanese government was finally released in June 2006 after a motion in the Japanese Parliament - but most of the text was blacked out with ink and the findings were not fully disclosed to the public.

Almost every page of the 105 page long report had text that was blacked out, except for a few pages in the beginning. CUJ are especially concerned by the analysis by Public Citizen on BSE noncompliance records. The U.S. consumer group received such documents after filing a Freedom of Information Act request to the USDA, and found that there had been 829 cases of BSE noncompliance in the U.S., including inadequate HACCP plans for BSE, improper removal or handling of specified risk materials, and improper age determination.

It seems likely that the official Japanese report noted such failures and errors, and it is outrageous that the facts are kept hidden from the Japanese public.

Public Citizen BSE Noncompliance Record Analysis - a great report if you want to know more about mad cow disease and food safety!

BSE/Food safety previous

Photo from Japan Resources, the quarterly newsletter in English published by CUJ, which is not available on the Internet, but you can subscribe to the printed edition via the Consumers Union of Japan website.

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