During MBC’s “100 Minute Debate”, a Korean group called the New Right National Alliance alleged that McDonald’s used beef from 30 month or older cows and cow innards in its hamburger patties sold in the U.S.
Of course during these sensitive times, some Koreans concluded that McDonald’s Korea used the above mentioned patties leading to phone calls to its franchises by nervous customers and the downing of McDonald’s homepage in Korea.
McDonald’s Korea issued a rebuttal stating that it used Australian beef and that beef patties in the U.S. are made from cows that are younger than 30 months, and that innards are not used. Fortunately, things cooled down when the above group issued an apology and a retraction.
Interesingly the homepage for the New Right National Alliance is “down for maintenance.”
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Typical. They just can’t help but poison the market further.
Sue ‘em both. That will teach the producer to invite someone w/ differing info to appear during those 100 minutes.
It’s starting to smell like a witch hunt now…
What’s ironic is that Mickey D’s hamburger should be using beef over 30 months old but not cow innards.
Simply there’s no regulation to ban beef over 30 months old but there’s a regulation that prohibit using cow innards for ground beef or hamburger. Why should Mickey D in US care about beef over 30 months old?
In the meanwhile, UK Mickey D does not use beef over 24 months old. Why? Well, they are following UK regulation and they have the most strict regulation over beef as the epicenter of mad cow disease.
Oops. didn’t mean to spam. Sorry but it was my network connection.
Interesting that no such allegation was made against Lotteria. Then again Lotteria is not an American company. Wouldn’t be suprised if Lotteria and Mc Donalds source some of their supplies from the same place.
Sue them, yea right as if a Korean Judge, is going to awards damages to a foreign company to be paid by Koreans!
Koreans know they can be complete dicks as there will be no recourse.
‘Koreans know they can be complete dicks as there will be no recourse’ expat
sounds just like you, expat. just like you.
Seriously, it’s starting to look like McCarthyism. All we need now is for the Mad Cowers to get overconfident, turn this into full blown anti-americanism and anti LMB thing. Then all is needed is a pin pricking the balloon moment of Joseph Welch proportions…
J.Welch: “…Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”
I’m curious about one thing. If US beef is so deadly, why is only Korea going ape shit about it? Doesn’t the US export beef to other countries as well? Is US beef only deadly in Korea?
Maybe someone should do a study to see if US beef and fan death are somehow related.
Of course the New Right National Alliance retracted their claim and apologized. McDonald’s is a US-based corporation, but its global operations are staffed largely by locals, including executive management.
Mc, not Mac. All the big stores have on their websites and at their cash registers that they use Australian beef, so the initial protests of McDonald’s were quite obviously done because it’s an American company. Did any of the other panelists on the show catch the group on their lie?
Just in case some folks are misinterpreting the article: The New Right National Alliance, I believe, is an organization that is usually pro-America. So its representative was likely trying to point out that the consumption of beef over aged 30 months is rather ubiquitous in America (and therefore safe). That is, it wasn’t trying to finger-point McDonald’s in a “witch hunt.” The Korean text seems to confirm this interpretation.
And though this disclaimer is probably not necessary, but to avoid getting into unnecessary online spats, just in case: I am not accusing WangKon936 of the aforesaid misinterpretation, though he uses the term “witch hunt.” I am fully aware that he can read Korean and is indeed one of the few Marmot gyopos who may have read more Korean history than I have!
I will readily admit that reading Korean in a newspaper isn’t the most natural thing for me since I read Korean real slow. But after scanning the article it appears you are right, so no witch hunt in this particular case.
also, of note, it’s interesting american companies are quick to protect their bottom line by dissing another american product.
My Korean is good enough to understand the article without even thinking of reaching for a dictionary, and actually the full context of the quote is not presented in the story, so the intent of the New Right National Alliance isn’t evident either way. However, I’ll take the word of Won Joon Choe as his vision of Korea is unclouded by defensive nationalism, and he’s never been one to sugarcoat or whitewash events that reflect negatively on Korea and Koreans.
My Korean reading level is only lower middle school quality because the private Korean schools in the states are no better then the private English schools in Korea… j/k!!!
Sonagi,
Thanks for the word of support. But I am not 100 percent sure, as I did not watch the program. So I used some hedge words “likely” and “seems.” I ought to have qualified the very first sentence too, but again, one can’t be as rigorous when writing online.
WangKon936,
Aren’t you one of the moderators at a rather large Chinese history forum? If so, I thought you are not only fluent in Korean, but also can read hanja effortlessly?
At any rate, you are one of my two favorite posters there, if indeed my suspicions are correct.
Won,
My understanding of early Korean history is as good as it is because I made friends with some Korean History grad students in the states and they give me English language transalations of the Samguk Sagi and Koryo Sa as well as Korean history PhD dissertations that have not been widely published.
Yes… I use to be a moderator for that site but quit when I got tired of fighting with too many Chinese nationalists. I could usually hold my own but Chinese trolls are pretty dang relentlous in their attacks. You REALLY had to be on top of your historical knowledge.
It helped that I had an active email relationship with Kane, Byington, Turnbull and others.
As for the site itself it was run by Singaporean nationals who were ethnically Chinese who were very rational and balanced. It was a great pleasure working with them.
hey sonagi, i don’t believe anything YOU say for the same reasons you say you don’t believe koreans ie you just as full of nationalism as any korean is. only you and the wellows can’t see that one.
and for the record, how arrogant your implication is with regards to being able to speak better korean than a native speaker. BS!
wow, wang, you don’t know chinese characters? i’m surprised. i know about 600. and the samguk sagi has an english version? last i looked, it’s only been translated into russian.
who’s your other favorite, won? mins?
WangKon936,
I see. I had no idea that there full text translations of Samguk Sagi and Koryosa. Or do you mean in unpublished forms? I’d also be interested in the Ph.D dissertations you mention. Could you at least give me the titles, so I can ask for copies from the authors? As you already know, I am sure, there are very few English-language monographs on the Three Kingdoms, Unified Silla, and Koryo periods.
I agree on the quality of that forum. And the most prolific posters were indeed articulate and learned–though at times they relied too much on Chinese texts to the exclusion of all counter-evidence.
Pawi,
I am only an occasional reader, so my preferences won’t mean much. But I liked “Warhead,” as he was obviously immensely knowledgeable and relentless logical (though again too Chinese text-centric).
I do know some hanja… about a hundred.
Samguk Sagi is HUGE. It’s two bibles put together! The Baekje pongi (annals) has been transalated into English by Dr. Jonathan Best. Parts of the Silla pongi was transalated by Dr. John C. Jamieson and the entire Koguryo pongi was transalated by Daniel Kane, a former PhD student at U of Hawaii. Kane also transalated parts of the Samguk Sagi’s biographies. Only the Baekje pongi’s transalation has been published however. All the other transalations are locked up in each of the university’s respective departments, in a very rough format and not in a condition where they can be readily published.
@WangKon:
I wish Americans of non-Western heritage wouldn’t be apologetic about their proficiency in their parents’ mother tongue. We’re all Americans. It is not desirable to deliberately discard one’s ancestral heritage, but neither is it healthy to cling to it.
Ah Warhead…
Him and I got into some epic fights.
HUGE ego… but in most cases has the knowledge to back it up. But I nailed him a few times on Koguryo history.
Pawi,
You are over-interpreting Lady Sonagi’s post.
Of course, I’ve encountered truly arrogant, presumptuous ex-pat Bloggers/posters in these parts. In fact, two Bloggers told me to essentially shut the hell up when I first began commenting on ex-pat Blogs, because I was a typical ignorant gyopo who couldn’t even speak Korean (!). Another more hilarious exchange was when my attempt to defend what I thought to be unfair attacks against certain organization was dismissed, because I knew nothing about contemporary Korean politics in general and the said organization in particular (I believe the head of the organization was–perhaps still is–the father of one of my closest college friends).
So I do think arrogant “gyopo-dismissing” is a rather common phenomenon in the ex-pat Korean Blogosphere.
But I’ve never seen it from Sonagi, and I certainly have never seen it from Robert.
‘Or do you mean in unpublished forms?’
what’s wrong with korea? why haven’t they translated the samguk sagi into english? it won’t be a best seller but this would be for english speaking korean scholars and those interested in korea. it’s a fact that people feel most comfortable in the language in which they were raised. even if an american shcolar of korean history can speak and read korean/chinese, he or she will still understand it better in their native tongue. still further, the fact that it’s not in english may discourage those who might have an interest in korea’s very long history.
WangKon936,
Yes, I am aware of the Best translation. Could you also refer me to other dissertations you spoke of? E-mail me, if you don’t want to do it here.
Yes, “Warhead” had a gargantuan ego. But he could back it up most of the times, though he was a pedantic textualist who simply took everything the classics said reflexively
ok, won jun choe.
Ordinarily I just step around your verbal piles of poo, but I will take this opportunity to clarify an important distinction between basic oral language and educated language/literacy. Wang Kon said that his reading skills were slow and attributed it to his mediocre formal education in Korean. While studying Korean in intensive KLI programs, I learned alongside heritage speakers who sounded native but struggled to read elementary school level texts because they had never learned to read Korean. They could decode Hangeul, of course, but had not had extensive reading in Korean prior to enrolling in KLI classes. Speed of reading greatly impacts comprehension. If one reads too slowly, one cannot follow and see relationships between ideas in a text. If someone read the Hankgyung story aloud to Wang Kon, he’d probably grasp all of it easily.
Won,
Please message me through my personal blog when you click my name.
One more thing about Warhead. We got into a big spat about how the Tang Dynasty had planned on turning Silla into a directly administered Chinese commandary after the conquest of Baekje and Koguryo. He naturally didn’t think that Tang would have conquered Silla after the fall of Baekje and Koguryo, not because of what the Tang histories said, but since they didn’t say anything about the issue. The Silla annals, of course, had plenty to say about that issue.
So his reasoning was if it’s not in the Tang records, they didn’t plan on doing it. I essentially said, well it’s in the Samguk sagi and Samguk Yusa, which quotes Silla royal hostages and Silla buddist monks studying in Tang. And he was like… Korean records are unreliable. And I was like, but large parts of the Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa quote the Chinese records. So are those passages unreliable? He couldn’t say anything and just kept repeating his original agruements in different forms. It was like watching a robot malfuncion with smoke fizzing up from its ears.
Pawi,
I’m sure the likes of me would really value the Samguk Sagi in English. However, I don’t think it would be a “best seller” considering that U.S. university Korean Study programs are strapped financially. The Samguk Sagi transalation was a labor of love by Dr. Mikhail Pak, but it took over 40 years to complete it and get it published.
Daniel Kane told me once that the U of Hawaii was going to get the Koguryo and Silla annals published (since Best has already published the Baekje annals) but work has been suspended.
If you are willing to give Daniel Kane a big fat check to get him to finish it, let me know and I’ll get you in contact.
I meant, “The Samguk Sagi transalation IN RUSSIAN was a labor of love by Dr. Mikhail Pak…”
Ok back on topic here…
I know a few guys who work for corporate McDonald’s here (although I have not talked to them about this yet) but I don’t think that this is solely due to the current beef protests.
McDonald’s has always been a target (in Korea and elsewhere) for attacks and rumors. These kind of events may increase the frequency of attacks but is not the cause in my opinion.
“Interesting that no such allegation was made against Lotteria. ”
Yes, it sounds like someone is trying to poison the market for American companies…or maybe it’s because a lot of Lotteria’s burgers are made with pork, not beef.
PS. Anyone who’s been here in the 90’s, when most people had only had burgers at Lotteria and it hadn’t introduced beef paddies on its menu, will tell you that if asked what is in a hamburger, most Korean English learners would have answered, “Ham.”
WangKon936,
I actually recall reading that exchange. But isn’t the standard explanation that the Tibetans diverted the Tang?
I will contact you via Xanga after I get an account.
P.S. Why “Wang Kon”? If I were to come up with an ID based on a historical Korean figure, he would not exactly be on the top of the list, as I see him primarily a more symbolic figure in the founding of Koryo, with seemingly few outstanding traits (save perhaps people skills).
hey anybody here old enough besides me to remember the worm rumor with McDonalds and Wendys in the states? I’d say 25 or so years ago there was a rumor that McDonalds and Wendys put ground earthworm in the burger meat to increase their protein content. Caused a huge drop in sales and both companies had to put on a pr blitz
yeah there were no candlelight vigils about it or wacko newsmagazines but it sure was interesting
watching the korean news last night and it was the same theme across the board you had the reporter and behind them were a bunch of losers on their cell phones no doubt calling people to say
“hey turn on KBS i am on tv” and then they usual moms with their kids down there
Hello. I’m a Korean graduate student and I’m very interested in knowing the foreigner’s perspective (especially those residing in Korea) on this issue. I guess the majority is very negative and most are calling Koreans crazy. Understandable, since there is a significant degree of nonsense involved. However, it is very sad that there hasn’t been a constructive scientific discussion on this issue among any of you respectable bloggers. I am attaching an article that is circulating among my colleagues. Although we are not native English speakers, we are quite proficient and understand most things. Please, if you have the time, read the article and let us know what you think. Thank you.
http://www.larouchepub.com/oth.....lowry.html
Oh. and if I may add one more thing, those of you expatriates who are proficient in Korean.. we would very much appreciate it if you could reply in Korean. just for our convinience. haha. thank you
Eh, the fact that you are linking to a Lyndon Larouche’s website–who is notorious as a quack–makes me wonder whether it’s worth reading.
Okocha,
Let me be blunt. Do you realize that LaRouche is the American version of 허경영? He is infamous for making crazy, fraudulent claims in the U.S. Linking to him does not exactly add to your credibility.
Welcome to the Marmot’s Hole, okocha. I read the article, whose claims sounded scientifically plausible. However, the source is a publication of the Lyndon LaRouche organization. He is considered an extremist by most politically aware Americans and has been labeled an anti-Semite and a fascist. The credibility of the source matters. I would never cite anything in a LaRouche publication.
And as for “the foreigner’s perspective,” there is no single perspective. We “foreigners” are of different nationalities, and those of us who share the same nationalities do not agree on all issues. It would be more accurate to ask for “perspectives from foreigners” (note the use of the plural in both words). It’s a distinction with a difference.
Well Won Joon, he may not know who LaRouche is. Not a lot of Koreans do.
Of course, Sonagi is more tactful–hence I am a Korean male, and she’s a non-Korean female
Mins0306, I realize. So I added a follow-up post, where I provided a rather vivid Korean analogue to LaRouche.
OK, my comment came up a bit late. But still, no need to be blunt to okocha about it. Which reminds me wonder how 허경영 is doing in prison?
I’m very interested in knowing the foreigner’s perspective (especially those residing in Korea) on this issue.
As an expert on expat psychology, I can tell you that the foreigner’s definitive perspective on the matter is that it is just the latest example of shoddy journalism/media, distorted thinking, irrationality, mass hysteria, lack of good faith credibility in business dealings, etc of Korea.
what next okocha, quoting from Alex Jones’ website?
yeah Jones’ is from austin but even us citizens of the PRA say he’s nuts
r.rac, as I told WJ, not a lot of Koreans here know about the interesting Stateside characters, such as LaRouche. Just as Americans don’t know who 허경영 is.
Okcha, do you have any study done on the Korean beef industry? The level of monitoring and testing done on Korean cows for Mad Cow? The monitoring of use of feed containing animal feed? And the reason why Korean cows are not even tested by OEI? And how many Koreans do you think is actually infected by Mad Cow, but not get noticed because the Korean cows are not even tested? And isn’t it hypocritical of Korea to demand that the US meet and go beyond standards set out by the OEI, while no such demands are set for Korean beef industry?
The bottom line is the US beef meets and passes OEI standards, while Korea gets a failing grade. Yet, it’s portrayed in Korea as if eating US beef means instant death, while Korean beef is completely safe. Why no outcry in Korea, over lack of testing done for Korean beef? Why aren’t the expectations and standards same for all cows? Instead Korean consumers firmly believe in the superiority of the Korean beef over US and Australian beef that defies logic and lack any kinds of facts.
Any chance of changing the headline and body to McDonald’s?
“I actually recall reading that exchange. But isn’t the standard explanation that the Tibetans diverted the Tang?”
WJ,
The intervention of Tubo can explain why Tang didn’t complete the conquest of the Korean peninsula, but it cannot explain if Tang had preexisting designs on administering Silla as the “Kyerim” commandery. The basis of my “conversation” w/Warhead was if Tang had such designs, not if they could or couldn’t conquer Silla.
Wedge, it’s been a long time since I saw a McDonald’s sign in English that I forgot about the correct spelling.
Consider it done.
WangKon936,
Ah, ok. I misremembered the nerve of the debate.
Thank you for all your responses. Especially Won Joon Choe because we were not sure as to the credibility of the source. I will make this a good reference for my research. But if I may be a little bit more greedy, and may humbly ask your assistance in finding actual sources which shows the fallable nature of this source, i would very much appreciate it because i want to include it in my reference for my research.
As for cm.. i don’t know why you are asking me these questions because I do not know the answer. (if I my clarify, I am not a scientist, i am specializing in trade issues therefore i am not familiar with the technicalities of OIE regulations.) I am sure what you are saying is highly valid and I appreciate it but that was not the point of my enquiery. I truly don’t know what to make of the situation and therefore i am asking everyone here. We, by any means, are claiming to say there is anything wrong with American beef or America etc…we do not have the resources, knowledge, credibility nor the statistical evidence to make such assertions. I apologize if I offended you in any way but that was truly not our intention.
thank you everyone for your comments. I bid you farewell
Okocha,
I apologize for my initial bluntness.
Here’s a long, well-known Washington Post article about LaRouche:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....ge=printer
But there’s a lot of stuff about LaRouche online, and the fact that all the ex-pats and gyopos know of him on this space–and call him a fraud–is a testament to how notorious he is in the U.S.
@57
If you are specializing in trade issues then I would think that it is essential that you find out the state of the domestic industry.
I don’t think I should really have to explain why….
Excuse me if I’m wrong but couldn’t McDonalds slap a defamation or slander suit on these people? From previous hogwan issues it seems as though it wouldn’t even matter if their claims had validity, only if McDonalds lost some business. Does it matter that the chain is foreign based, particularly since the group is run for the most part by nationals here in Korea?
On second thought, perhaps that wouldn’t be the best PR move on their part in the current climate yet it might reinforce their claim that the beef they use is safe.
Actually, in Korea, I have no idea what it would mean or how it would be interpreted. Geez, maybe it would be percieved as another slight.
cm: You’re right, the issue here is not that US beef is wonderful and the US beef industry would never put our health at risk (yeah right). The issue is that the Korean beef is no better and may even be worse. So let’s not all be rushing to the defense of corporations like McDonald’s, which couldn’t care less if all your kids got diabetes. Just cos the Koreans are freaking out doesn’t mean we have to freak out at the other extreme.
Even if your premise about McDonald’s were true (it’s not), who’s responsible for protecting your kids from their own gluttony? You are. Do your job. But let the rest of us enjoy our Big Macs.
ahaha. thank you for the article. this is of big help. he is very funny person. I think he is worse than 허경영!!!
So if anyone can direct us to PROPER scientific articles regarding BSE please let me know.
ahaha. thank you for the article. this is of big help. he is very funny person. I think he is worse than 허경영!!!
So if anyone can direct us to PROPER scientific articles regarding BSE please let me know.
To #40,
So it’s rational discourse you want, eh? I suggest you join the US Gov’t in trying to get it with Sohn Hak-Kyu. May the day come when he gets his comeuppance for this absurd nonsense.
In #40, okocha wrote
Then, in #57,
okocha, could you please explain why you would lament the lack of science-based debate at this blog on the topic of BSE potential in US beef, then ask us to read and comment on an interview with a cell biologist on the topic of BSE and USDA safety precautions (an interview which, by the way, you and your collegues have been spending some time with), and then claim to have no opinion or knowledge about the topic? Sorry, but that seems a bit odd.
The said fact Brendon is that a netizen in Korea is now attacking a proven safe American Enterprise. Not only a provenly scientific when it comes to not one customer affected by mad cow, but also proven that eaten too much the customer will be the opposite of starvation. Maybe only people in Korea cannot grasp the fact. If it were not for America, No Korean child in the peninsula would have the oppurtunity to be fat. Unless he or she was born of the socialist elite. FACT.
Then again the Korean war is actually between us Americans and Chinese. Never tell a new generation Korean that. They want to think that China or Japan would treat Korea better than the U.S. has. I’m just not sure if young Koreans realize that the hand which has rocked the cradle is now seeing that maybe the baby needed to be aborted. Korea has brought anything when it comes in the future upon itself.
thank you for your comments gbnhj.
to clarify our position.
We have actually completed our research, titled “The Competitiveness of Korean Beef Industry and the Myth of the Great Import Beef Threat” (awkward translation. but i hope you understand) about one month ago. We were getting ready for our defense and then this mad cow issue erupted
So now we were in a position, as economists, to defend ourselves on scientific issues. And then one of our colleague stumbled upon this article and we realized that we could be attacked because we are for beef imports.
So. We needed someone to help us clarify the credibility of the source because we cannot articulate our position against this article (due to lack of knowledge)
So when we found this marmot’s hole blog and these discussions, we assumed that we will find people discussing some scientific issues regarding this issue. But to our disappointment there was none.
So we decided to take the initiative and post this article just to see if anyone can help us out.
And people here have been very helpful and we extend our gratitutde. thank you
And to add.. i am not lamenting the lack of it.. i was being greedy because i really needed to clarify the source of this very quickly (for monday’s class..) So excuse us if we sounded condescending. we had no intention to.. if we offended anyone please understand that it is out of ignorance not out of malice.
Thank you
Thanks for the clarification, okocha. With your combination of intelligence and understanding of netiquette, you needn’t worry about offending any reasonable person here, and you surely didn’t sound condescending.
I hope others here can provide you with the links to the data you’re looking for. Good luck!
Brendon, just which part of my statement that McD’s couldn’t care less if your children got fat are you disputing?
All of it, I guess.
I live in the world of corporations and in general I’ve found that the popular concept of “corporate evil” doesn’t match my experience with the good and decent people who work in them.
McDonald’s works hard to improve the nutritional balance of its food while maintaining taste. (As it happens, relatively few customers go to McDonald’s for the fresh apple cup.) They do that not simply because it’s popular, but also because it’s better for their customers. So you’re full of it there.
I also reject your insinuation that it’s McDonald’s fault if your kids get fat. If you kids get fat, it’s your responsibility, not the Hamburglar’s.
I still don’t understand what exactly okocha is looking for.
There are numerous researches and THEORIES on BSE and vCJD but none definitive. Even the definition of the term “SRM” differs country to country.(internationally OIE’s definition is used though)
If you’d like to know how Japanese official committee asses the risks of BSE, here is the official documents.
(try machine translation and look for links saying English translated PDFs)
BTW, your English is far better than any of the people here IMHO. I’m the worst, of course..
okocha,
If you are looking for more information about BSE, you could try using the BSE page on wikipedia. Now before all you Marmoteers jump all over me for this, hear me out….
I would strongly recommend against using any wiki page as reliable information – especially in an academic paper. However, most pages require links and citations for the information. You can use the links at the bottom to try and find the information from the source. In a way, it can be a good way to find source information when pressed for time. The hardest part, once again, is determining the credibility of the cited sources.
Good luck.
#65
the USFDA CFSAN has a lot of information regarding BSE
http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/bse.html
and of course, you could also use google scholar,
if you have access to your graduate school’s online journals subscription, then retrieving the papers would be a cinch
I did not watch the entire MBC 100 Minute debate, but did watch the brief clip of it. As far as I can gather, there was no direct accusations against McDonald’s by the New Right’s spokesman. He basically tried to challenge the false viewpoint that Americans do not eat beef that are over 30 months but that Americans are trying to export the leftover over 30 month beef to Korea. The spokesman asked the opposition debater, have you even been to the US? – they are served and eat beef that are over 30 months. Again, read the link’s first paragraph:
임헌조 사무처장은 5일 저녁 방송된 MBC ‘100분 토론’에서 미국산 쇠고기의 안전성을 설명하며 “미국에서 소비되는 소 중 18%가 30개월 이상 된 소인데 맥도날드 햄버거(패티)로 사용된다”라며 “”미국 맥도날드 햄버거에는 30개월 이상의 쇠고기와 내장을 원재료로 사용하고 있다”라고 말한바 있다.
“미국산 쇠고기의 안전성을 설명하며 ”
translated to:
“while he was explaining the safety of US beef…”
So as you can see, this was a misunderstanding where his words were taken by a paranoid and sensitive public to mean McDonald’s was unsafe (when in reality that was not what he meant). I’m sure some people took this to opportunity to strengthen their arguments against the US beef.
Mad Cow Disease
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease in cattle.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy
In humans, it is known as new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD or nvCJD), and by April 2008, it had killed 163 people in Britain, and 37 elsewhere.
http://www.cjd.ed.ac.uk/vcjdworld.htm
It is believed, but not proven, that the disease may be transmitted to human beings who eat the brain or spinal cord of infected carcasses.
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/bsefaq.html
Between 460,000 and 482,000 BSE-infected animals were slaughtered for human consumption before the ban on high-risk offal such as brain and spinal cord was introduced in 1989.
The number of people exposed to potentially infective doses through food may have been “extremely high”, said the scientists. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1671737.stm
In the US, where consumption of brain and spinal tissue in over 30 month-old cattle is banned, there has been only one case of vCJD (and that was a woman who contracted the disease in the UK). http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/bsefaq.html
Accordingly, bone is not a high-risk material, only spinal bone and tissue. Americans are eating steaks with bone (T-bone), as they have always done, without general alarm. Koreans are also not the only ones to use bones in soup: Americans are still making soup with beef bones, just as they have done for centuries:
Old-Fashioned Vegetable Beef Soup
Brown meat in drippings. Pour off excess fat. Cover with water; bring to the boil. Add salt and onion; simmer 2 hours. Add vegetables and rice. Simmer for about 1 hour longer. Remove meat from bone; add back to soup.
southernfood.about.com/od/beefsouprecipes/r/bln398.htm
FDA regulations require that all the organs in which infectious prions occur were removed at slaughter and did not enter the food supply.
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/bsefaq.html
FDA has prohibited the use of cattle material from organs from cattle 30 months of age or older in which infectious prions are most likely to occur.
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/bsefaq.html
In other words, US consumers are eating beef older than 30 months old; the only thing they are not eating from older cattle are the high-risk organs (brain and spinal tissue).
A lot of people are getting sick of the candle light protests.
http://news.chosun.com/site/da.....00433.html
Hundreds of comments condemning the beef protests are going up daily here
http://nodemo.wo.to/
Thank you for all your support. I think with everyone’s help here and also from several other sources we will manage just fine at this point.
But just one area that we are puzzled as of now is why is the U.S government disallowing independent testing by private beef producers? From what we can gather The Agriculture Department regulates the test and argues that widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry.
We are a bit confused because if beef producers are paying for the cost, why would the U.S government stop this? False positive? We don’t understand this part. Can anyone help?
Thank you.
OH. now that we have done much research, we found very interesting information. If anyone needs it, here is a very useful information. I think it would be amazingly beneficial if someone translate this entire page into Korean. (i’m not requesting this. hahaha.. just a wish)
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/sp.....em_nma.htm
So you’re asking us to do your homework for you. You’re the one getting the grade for a debate, and part of your responsibility is to find appropriate sources. It’s fine for you to scan Marmot threads and ask commenters’ opinions, but your request for assistance in finding sources is either cheeky or lazy.
Your question has a rhetorical tone. As teacher, I encourage my students to speculate on the answers to questions before we read a text. I think you have some possible answers in mind.
As a Korean investigating the issue of importing US beef, perhaps you are familiar with safety regulations regarding Korean beef. Could you please share with us some links detailing the regulations and safety inspections for Korean beef?
If Koreans really want to eat healthy, they should skip Korean beef and US beef and eat Australian and New Zealand beef, which is grass-fed, not grain-fed. Lean, grass-fed beef has a beneficial omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acid profile. Grain-fed beef is high in inflammation-promoting omega 6 fatty acids.
You might find this article on grass-fed versus grain-fed interesting:
http://www.foodrevolution.org/grassfedbeef.htm
The article discusses US beef, but the information on US grain-fed beef applies to Korean beef, also, as it is grain-fed and treated with antibiotics. Is it true that some Korean cattle farmers use clenbuterol, a muscle enhancer so unsafe even the USDA has banned it?
Corporations are neither good nor evil. They are entities that pursue their own interests, which sometimes overlap and sometimes conflict with those of the public.
Half-right. McDonalds does try to create products whose nutritional profiles look respectable, but overall, their products are unhealthy. They don’t give a rat’s *ss if their customers are fat diabetics with triple coronary bypasses. Nor should they care. The food industry understands correctly that most Americans talk about nutrition but buy according to taste and price.
#81
While I agree with #83, here is my opinion. Please let me know if I was wrong .
“Allowing individual farms to test and then market their beef as ‘BSE-free’ might imply that eating untested meat is ‘hazardous’” That certainly leads to whole lots of unnecessary panic (domestically and internationally).
You don’t want people going wild on the streets destroying stuff and demand impeachment over stupid rumors, do you?
So if you wanna test, you wanna test every single cows over 24 month using the SAME testing method or use statistics based on the scientific data combined with limited sampling. The US currently employs the latter, I think.
PS. Disclaimer: I’ve been eating US beef in the U.S and Japan. I’d probably die of cancer. Damn smoke!
I second that. I find that some entries are sabotaged due to some party that has a vested interest in what is on Wikipedia. Some entries are fine though, thus I always read through them before linking to them. I checked the OIE for BSE information due my concerns about the USDA.
Thank you everyone. This has been of great help.
as for Sonagi, i apologize but we were merely asking for help, we were not being insistent on anything.
As koreans, we have difficulty discerning credible resources and not so credible resources. And since there are many people here who are natives, we thought it would be a good place to ask for help. We are very grateful but if we sounded lazy, by all means we are trying very hard, its just that we were not confident enough to make our own decisions because we lack the ability to make our own decisions in terms of source credibility.
As for your question, unfortunately i cannot be of much assistance because that is not the focus of our research. As a matter of fact, U.S beef saftey is not even the focus of our paper. Our focus is purely business and we neglected the health issue entirely. This was our fault but since we could be attacked on these health issues, we were merely preparing in case we had to defend ourselves. Because our conclusion is highly pro import of american beef, we could get attacked considering the highly politicized nature of this issue. It is a very ridiculous situation as many have commented but social issues become very extreme in this country. it is very unfortunate. If you are suggesting we should counter argue indicating the unsafe nature of Korean beef, maybe that could be a good idea. We will consider that.
ps. we are not really graded on this.. but we are trying to use this as a basis for a larger project.
@ococha:
You may not be a US citizen, but your English is native-like, most likely acquired overseas or at an international school like Seoul Foreign School. Don’t give me this BS about Koreans studying grammar for years and using a dictionary. A Korean starting early and spending years receiving a quality English education will have excellent English but still retain small errors that give away non-native proficiency.
I’m not going to do your job for you by looking for sources, but if I were arguing in favor of importing US beef, the thrust of my argument would be that US beef is no less safe than Korean beef, for both use similar practices, feeding grain-based cocktails and doses of antibiotics to stave off the illnesses that result from confining cows in barns and feeding them an unnatural diet.
US beef is no less safe than Korean beef, but it is substantially cheaper.
Healthy beef should be grass-fed, but Korea is a mountainous country with little land for pasturing animals. That is why beef used to be a luxury food for the rich. Pigs and chickens are more efficient at converting grain to meat, and hence, are a better choice for Koreans who believe in sustainable farming. Koreans and the Korean government should not protect and grow the Korean beef industry as it is not and cannot be a sustainable agricultural product.
Ococha – Okocha
Why?
Trying…to…exercise…restraint…
The Chosun, Joongang, and the Dong-A have taken the position of opposing the candlelight vigils so it’s not surprising that they have put that up. And for all we know that 7,000 members are probably right wingers or hard-core LMB fans who don’t like the fact that people are protesting against LMB and his policies. And not people who feel that US beef is being unfairly dissed. Heck there is a sign at the entrance of the Chosun Il-bo’s employee cafeteria that says “We serve only Aussie beef” and I doubt that most if not all of the 7,000 or so people who oppose the protest will eat US beef if it was put in front of them. That is assuming that they were informed that it is US beef.
If one wants to get a complete picture of Korea, then one shouldn’t read/view a single media outlet and make a conclusion on the spot. One should also see what’s on the other side before making a conclusion.
US beef is much safer than Korean beef and I’m not even going to put “I think or I believe.”
Clearly, Korea is even below the OIE standards and have no beter safety measures than the US. Yet, Koreans freely overgeneralize US beef as 미친소 or 쓰레기. Americans have every right to be mad about this.
Spreading numerous false rumors is one thing; many Koreans also do verbal abuse to anyone who think US beef is safe. They NEVER respect what others think. Sounds like a peaceful, democratic protest??
Geez, Sonagi, give the guy a break! As a former graduate student myself, nobody ever jumped down my throat like that for asking people to point out sources I might have missed, or to help find something reliable! Sure it would be great if they did all their own research themselves, but part of being a community of scholars is being willing to help out and point out reliable sources.
I agree with figbash. okocha wrote that he approached his topic from a purely economic standpoint; while I would learn something of the science surrounding this topic (as it impacts trade), he claims to have been more theoretical. Frankly, I believe him – why not? He’s obviously fishing for some assistance, but he’s hardly doing anything unethical.
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