The Marmot’s Hole

An article in the IHT, gives a bit of a background on the recent issues surrounding US beef.

About 50 countries, including Korea, Taiwan and Japan the last of which accounted for 36 percent of American beef exports closed their doors to American beef after the first confirmed case mad cow disease was found in Moses Lake, Washington State, in December 2003.

The circumstances of that first case, and the defensive reactions of the United States Department of Agriculture after its discovery, led to years of skepticism by American consumer groups and difficult negotiations with foreign countries over reopening their markets — especially in Asia’s wealthier countries, where consumers are used to demanding that their governments certify that imported food is safe

Read the rest on your own.