Beef Wars.

The importation of US beef has once again become a volatile issue in Korea over the past month or so...

...One dairy cow in central California was found to have been infected with mad cow disease recently...(also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy...)

...which has provoked discussion about whether US beef imports should be resticted again...

I noticed on the facebook newsfeed that a number of American guys in Seoul are of the opinion that Koreans are being unreasonable in response to this one reported case of mad cow disease...

...or that they are overreacting about this whole issue...

Frankly, while many Americans don't seem too concerned about this one infected cow and the potential spread of mad cow disease...

...Koreans are justifiably not satisfied with the level of safety standards or government regulations regarding  mad cow disease in the US....

While the Japanese test every single cow in Japan for mad cow disease...

...in the US, less than 2% of cows are tested for mad cow disease...

...this means that a number of potentially infectious cows will automatically enter the food processing chain...

... without ever being detected...

...and the US even created a peculiar law stating that farmers who voluntarily try to test their cows for the disease will be prohibited from doing so...

...what is the logic in that ?

For all of these reasons...

...just a few years ago, 1 million Koreans took the streets in Seoul to protest against the importation of American beef...

...due to fear of infection...

...Koreans seemingly had a lot to say about why they were not happy with the regulation of US beef imports...

...but a number of Americans still could not understand why Koreans would be so sensitive about this beef issue... 

One point that Americans might overlook...

... is the fact that the consumption of meat is largely a cultural practice ...

...and therefore, the usage of beef and the treatment of animals differ considerably in different parts of the world.

Let us consider the important fact that KOREANS EAT 85 PARTS OF THE COW.


...and...

AMERICANS EAT ONLY 10 PARTS OF THE COW.

In Korea,

...Koreans are quite thorough in the way they utilize the various parts of the cow.... 

They eat the intestines, brain, eyes, spinal cord, and meat directly around the bones...

...and these are often the parts of the animal that are more likely to carry disease..

Americans, in contrast, are generally not comfortable with eating these parts of the cow...

... and opt to eat only the safest parts of the animal (which would be the meat further away from the bone).

Because traces of mad cow disease seem to be detected more frequently in bone fragments...

Koreans are perhaps more susceptible to contracting the disease...

... as the parts of the cow that Koreans consume are more likely to contain bone fragments...

Koreans also enjoy eating ground raw beef, known as Yukhwae 육회...

...which is not generally found in the US...

... as Americans generally cook their beef well before eating it.

(although, it is still difficult to cook these diseases out of the meat...)

...raw beef is also more likely to carry disease than cooked beef...

...so again, it does seem legitimate that Koreans ask questions about the testing and regulations surrounding cow farming in the US...

...as Koreans are clearly more susceptible to contracting mad cow disease...

Almost 70 countries in the world have placed restrictions on the importation of US beef... including the European Union...

...and millions upon millions of US beef products have been recalled over the past 5 years...

...leaving Korean citizens in the position where they are forced to speak out...

...where American citizens will not...