South Korea banned the supply of cattle, unable to stand on their own, to the meat market in an endeavor to ramp up the public confidence in food safety, Yonhap said Saturday citing officials.
Under the tightened regulation, most "downer" cattle will be banned from entering slaughterhouses from Monday, according to the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
"It will be a step to increase consumer confidence in the safety of local beef," said a ministry official.
“Downer” is a term indicating an animal, usually livestock, that is unable to stand on its own and therefore is to be killed.
The downer cattle should be inspected for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly called mad cow disease, and then legally buried or sent for incineration, according to the ministry.
South Korea last year resumed imports of U.S. beef, lifting its ban that had been imposed after a case of mad cow disease was confirmed in Washington state in 2003, sparking public outrage and fear about the disease, ensued by weeks of street protests.
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