Japan - E. Coli scare takes raw beef liver off the menu

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<SMALL>June 14, 2012, 5:51 PM HKT</SMALL>

E. Coli Scare Takes Raw Beef Liver Off the Menu in Japan

Starting in July, restaurants in Japan will be banned from serving raw beef liver after a food-safety panel deemed it a health risk.

The move, announced Tuesday by the health ministry, slices into a proud part of Japan?s culinary culture, banishing a favorite dish from local bars and barbecue restaurants. It?s the equivalent of Buffalo wings vanishing from American bar menus.

The culprit is E. coli ? a potentially deadly strain of the pathogen called O-157. Because it can produce a powerful toxin, it can cause serious illness, even in small doses.

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http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2012/06/14/e-coli-scare-takes-raw-beef-liver-off-the-menu-in-japan/

 

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Re: Japan - E. Coli scare takes raw beef liver off the menu

Raw beef liver to disappear from menus in July

The Yomiuri Shimbun
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The ministry made the decision after its food sanitation council approved the policy at a meeting Tuesday.

Enterohemorrhagic E. coli O-157 and Campylobacter bacteria, both of which can cause severe stomachache, have been detected in raw beef liver. A research report said it is difficult to remove or kill the bacteria through screening tests or disinfection, and that liver can only be guaranteed safe to consume if it has been cooked.

Operators of barbecue restaurants and other establishments that ignore the ban on raw beef liver could be sentenced to up to two years in prison or fined up to 2 million yen.

At Tuesday's meeting, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry presented comments submitted by the public over the month through May 18. Although most of the 1,532 opinions were against outlawing raw liver, ministry officials insisted a ban--backed up by penalties--was necessary because there is no 100 percent safe way of eating raw beef liver.

Experts of the council accepted the ministry's opinion on the condition that the ban will be reconsidered when methods to safely eat raw liver are found.
...(Jun. 14, 2012)

Full text:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120613003797.htm