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Japanese Cows Get National ID Codes So Beef-Eaters Can Trace Their Dinner
Tokyo (AFP) Nov 30, 2004 Beef-eaters in Japan will soon be able to find out which farm their steak dinner came from as cows will be given national ID codes trackable by Internet or phone to fight fears of mad cow disease. Starting Wednesday, all cows whether dead or alive in Japan will have an individual code that will stay with them from birth to the supermarket. The code can be punched in to a computer or cellphone to find the beef product's place of residence in its former life, so consumers can choose to avoid meat from farms with past mad cow problems. The system aims "to benefit consumers while promoting the healthy growth of livestock farming", said the law that established the system. The code system, which covers both Japanese-bred and imported beef, will be available for every vendor of beef in Japan, although it remains doubtful the ID numbers would trickle down to restaurant menus. Japan is the only Asian country to have confirmed mad cow disease, which decimated Britain's cattle industry in the 1990s, and has screened every cow slaughtered for consumption after confirming its first case in September 2001. Japan, once the biggest importer of US beef, stopped buying after a mad cow case was discovered in the United States in December 2003. The two countries have agreed in principle to resume the beef trade but are still working out technicalities on testing. All rights reserved. � 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Satellite-based Internet technologies
iPod Dominance A Mirage
Chicago (UPI) Jan 09, 2006Though Apple Computer has reported remarkable success with its iPod - sales rose by 250 percent during the last fiscal year - there is some competition coming this week for the developer of the world's most famous, legitimate music downloading network, experts tell United Press International's Networking. |
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