The sanitary standards for atypical mad cow disease apply to typical mad cow disease

The Consumer Foundation questioned the fact that American cattle are fed with blood and feces. After investigation, the Council of Agriculture pointed out that the United States has banned the use of mammalian protein as feed (including blood meal) for ruminants (such as cattle and sheep) since 1997. In addition, since 2008, it has banned the use of high-risk materials such as brains and spinal cords of cattle over 30 months old to make meat and bone meal for feeding other animals. In order to confirm the extent of the US's implementation of the feed ban, the inspection team also conducted confirmation on this aspect at various inspection points.

The U.S. beef inspection team returned to the country and stated that the OIE is currently collecting data and conducting research on atypical mad cow disease. Before a conclusion is reached, the health standards for atypical mad cow disease will apply to the current relevant standards for typical mad cow disease. (Photo courtesy of the Council of Agriculture)

In addition, regarding the scientific controversy over atypical mad cow disease that only occurs in elderly cattle, and the claim that "L-type atypical mad cow disease is more susceptible to infecting humans," the Council of Agriculture stated that after contacting the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) headquarters' Deputy Executive Director in charge of the Science and Technology Department, Dr. Kazuaki Miyagishima, he said that the OIE is currently collecting data and conducting research on atypical mad cow disease. Until a conclusion is reached, the health standards for atypical mad cow disease will apply to the current relevant regulations for typical mad cow disease.

Currently, some media have cited the use of genetically modified mice (non-ruminant animals) as experimental subjects and artificial inoculation into the brain, and inferred from the results obtained that atypical mad cow disease is more likely to infect human segment B. Both the experimental subjects and the experimental operation methods are incorrect.

The Council of Agriculture emphasized that according to international practice, when importing countries conduct inspections of production facilities in exporting countries, all related itineraries must be negotiated and consensus reached between the two parties. The time for this inspection was relatively urgent, but because the US side attached great importance to it, after coordination between the two sides, the inspection team actually conducted a comprehensive inspection of slaughterhouses accounting for a total of 34.67% of the total beef exported to Taiwan. Together with the five slaughterhouses that were visited as a priority, the total covered 63.31% of the total beef exported to Taiwan, which is higher than the inspection ratio in previous years.

As for the rest of the U.S. beef production process, the U.S. also complied with our request and arranged for an inspection team to visit chemical processing plants, feed mills and cattle farms to understand the U.S.'s various preventive actions and measures against mad cow disease. Overall, the audit results show that American beef imported to Taiwan is safe, and the relevant detailed report is expected to be released to the public in early June.