Buying Beef Cattle and Insuring No Mad Cow Infection

• Periodical Listing
• Environ Wellness Prev Med
• v.xv(five); 2010 Sep
• PMC2921042

Environ Health Prev Med. 2010 Sep; xv(5): 311–318.

Consumer reactions to risk information on bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Japan

Kumiko Ogoshi

^oneDepartment of Public Health, Health Management and Policy, Nara Medical Academy, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara 634-8521 Japan

Hideo Yasunaga

^twoDepartment of Health Direction and Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Nippon

Naoya Obana

³Human-Care Research Group, Mitsubishi Research Institute Inc., Tokyo, Nihon

Toshio Ogawa

^aneDepartment of Public Wellness, Health Management and Policy, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara 634-8521 Japan

Tomoaki Imamura

¹Section of Public Health, Wellness Management and Policy, Nara Medical Academy, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara 634-8521 Japan

Received 2009 Jun 25; Accustomed 2010 Mar 29.

Abstruse

Objectives

To investigate the impact of information on foodborne disease on consumers, we quantified consumers' feet, purchasing behaviors, and willingness-to-pay (WTP) in response to the reading of newspaper articles published in 2001 that documented the showtime cow in Japan to be infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Methods

An online questionnaire survey of 993 females aged xx–59 years was conducted in 2007. The participants were randomly selected from the full general population via the Internet and were divided into three groups. Each group was assigned a different number of BSE-related articles to read, namely, ii, four, and six articles, respectively. Each participant described her personal level of feet, underlying reasons for her anxiety, and changes in purchasing behavior after reading the articles. The respondents who wanted to purchase guaranteed-prophylactic beefiness were asked to country their maximal WTP.

Results

The level of feet was significantly lower and distrust of the relevant administration significantly greater in the grouping asked to read half dozen articles than in the other groups. The WTP value for guaranteed beef was approximately one.3-fold higher than the regular purchase cost, with significant differences between groups. In the 'six-article' group, the ratio between WTP and the regular purchase price was significantly less than that in the 'four-article' group.

Conclusions

These findings propose that the feet of consumers can be reduced if they receive an advisable amount of published information. WTP may be linked to the contents of the articles.

Keywords: Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE, Consumer, Gamble communication, Willingness-to-pay

Introduction

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is acquired by an abnormal prion poly peptide and is associated with human variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD) [1]. BSE was showtime detected in the UK in 1986, while the commencement BSE-infected dairy cow in Japan was identified in September 2001 [ii].

In Japan, business over various foodborne diseases has caused public health crises at different times in the by [three]. The BSE incident in Nippon in 2001 was, however, considerably different from those associated with these before incidents considering information technology created an unusually big panic among the general population—even though at that place had been no deaths or cases of illness caused by BSE in Nihon at that time. Some cattle farmers and nutrient processors even committed suicide because of concern almost the economic damage caused by the BSE incident and increased consumer restraint in purchasing beef.

One reason why the Japanese regime was unable to prevent this tragic development is that the dissemination of information to the public on the risk of BSE was inadequate. The aim of risk communication is to share information on the probability of adverse outcomes described in health and scientific assessments and the degree of risk in order to form a consensus among stakeholders, including the government, experts on adventure assay, enterprises and consumers. In Nippon, sensational reports in the media on the first occurrence of BSE in 2001 seemed to cause a state of panic among consumers.

Even though the panic induced by BSE is a well-known effect in Japan, to date in that location has been no analysis of the impact of the media on consumer beliefs during this 'panic' period. Takeshita analyzed the consequence of health data on food consumption using the example of salad oil consumption and concluded that consumers' concerns are influenced by the information they receive, with the extent of the influence increasing rather than decreasing consumers' concerns [four]. Sawada compared ii episodes of mass food poisoning that occurred in 1996, namely, the contamination of nutrient with the pathogenic Escherichia coli O157 that occurred in Japan and the mad cow disease epidemic that occurred among cattle in the United kingdom. Notably, he establish that mad cow disease did not affect the buy of beef in Japan [5].

Since the occurrence of BSE, willingness-to-pay (WTP) approaches accept been commonly used in Japan as a method to evaluate the perceived condom of beef [6–8]. Giamalva et al. [9] used the WTP arroyo to investigate dietitians' acceptance of iii methods to reduce the hazard of foodborne disease, namely the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system, chemical washing, and irradiation. They reported that dietitians were most accepting of the HACCP system, less accepting of irradiation, and to the lowest degree accepting of new chemical washes. Frenzen et al. [x] conducted a study to assess consumers' acceptance of irradiated meat and poultry using WTP, and van der Politico et al. [eleven] also examined consumers' business concern for food condom by assessing the individuals' WTP to eliminate the gamble of poultry-borne affliction by irradiation or a hypothetical treatment.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of reading BSE-related newspaper articles and the implementation of measures to protect confronting BSE on consumer behavior, feet, and WTP for prophylactic beef.

Materials and methods

Article selection

To quantify the level of feet induced by the mass media, we commencement identified the BSE panic period based on the number of BSE-related articles written in the five major Japanese-language newspapers published in Japan (Yomiuri, Asahi, Mainichi, Nikkei, and Sankei) in September and October 2001. The full length of the articles was also measured past counting the number of characters in each article.

Presentation of the relevant articles

Six BSE-related manufactures that appeared in the Yomiuri, Asahi, and Mainichi newspapers during the identified panic menstruation betwixt September eleven and October 17, 2001 were selected for the questionnaire survey. A summary of the six articles is shown in the Appendix.

Commodity 1 reported that a dairy cow in Chiba prefecture had BSE. Article 2 reported the decision by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) to conduct a nationwide survey of all cows and cattle with BSE-related neurological symptoms. Article iii stated that the report by the MAFF, which stated that the infected moo-cow had already been culled, was an error and that this moo-cow was candy into meat and bone meal. Article four reported the implementation of testing procedures for all cows and cattle by the Ministry of Wellness, Labour and Welfare (MHLW). Article 5 reported that, regarding the publication of the results of the screening tests, the decisions made past the MHLW changed ofttimes. Commodity 6 reported that fake-positive cows would not exist shipped until their safety was confirmed.

Questionnaire survey

Sample collection

An online questionnaire survey was conducted via the Internet in 2007. We used an Cyberspace survey for ii main reasons: (1) to prevent consumers from answering questions without reading the presented information; (2) to let for the drove of responses from a large number of individuals within a short menstruation of time (several days). Nosotros selected a sample group of Japanese females aged 20–59 years old residing in Japan. This age group was chosen based on the assumption that, in Nippon, it is this demographic grouping that more often than not purchases beef as a food. In contrast, only a small number of men purchase and cook beef. Furthermore, beef is less pop amid people aged threescore years or older because they tend to prefer fish and chicken for wellness reasons.

To conduct this survey, we collaborated with an Cyberspace enquiry company, Goo (Tokyo, Nippon), which has approximately 356,000 registered Internet users, with women accounting for one-half of these users (179,000). We randomly selected 3,040 women aged twenty–59 years who were registered on the Goo database and sent an Eastward-mail to each participant on March 23, 2007, inviting them to participate in the survey. The invited participants were asked to voluntarily access the online questionnaire shown in Tableane. Over a five-twenty-four hour period flow from March 23 to March 27, 2007, a total of 993 people responded to the survey, giving a response charge per unit of 32.7%.

Table 1

Participant backgrounds

Participant characteristics	Group A (n = 330)	Grouping B (n = 333)	Grouping C (n = 330)
Boilerplate age, years (±SD)	38.38 ± 10.51	38.78 ± 10.36	38.58 ± 10.74
Average income (±SD) (¥1,000)	6,268 ± 2,628	vi,249 ± 2,703	half-dozen,265 ± 2,662
Preference for beef
Like	272	272	281
Neither	36	37	27
Dislike	22	24	22
Regular buy price of beef (¥/100 g)	345 ± 199 (northward = 294)	366 ± 216 (northward = 298)	352 ± 201 (n = 287)

The survey included questions on annual household income and preference for beef as the determinants of purchase cost of beef. We did not include questions on other factors that may bear upon the purchase of beefiness, such as pedagogy and profession, marriage condition, family brand-upwardly, and presence of diseases in the participants or their family members, for a number of reasons. Outset, past experience has revealed that questions on education, profession, and marriage status decrease the response charge per unit. 2d, nosotros considered that analyses on family unit make-upwards and the presence of diseases in subjects and their family members were of limited utility in a group of about one,000 subjects.

Institutional review board approval was not necessary because this research was based on an anonymous, cocky-administered questionnaire for the general public. The cover letter of the questionnaire provided the subjects with the following data: (1) data drove and analysis was fully anonymous and their private data would exist completely protected; (ii) all answers would be kept confidential, candy statistically, and used only for this scientific written report; (three) they could either participate voluntarily or pass up to participate.

Grouping

The participants (n = 993) were randomly divided into three groups and stratified based on age ranges. Group A participants (n = 330) were sent manufactures 1 and ii, Group B (due north = 333) participants were sent articles 1, 2, 3, and 4, and Group C participants (n = 330) were sent all vi of the called articles. Each participant was asked to read the designated manufactures and to complete the accompanying questionnaire.

Questionnaire

After reading the articles, participants were questioned about the degree to which they felt anxiety using a four-point Likert calibration: strongly (score = 3); considerably (score = 2); slightly (score = 1); none (score = 0). The respondents who answered that "I felt anxiety", then were asked to describe the cause of this anxiety past choosing the well-nigh appropriate detail from amongst the following six choices: (1) route of BSE infection is notwithstanding unknown; (2) BSE besides occurred in Japan; (3) I might have eaten BSE-infected beef; (4) the number of BSE-infected cows might exist increasing in Japan; (5) I dubiousness the brownie of the presented information itself; (6) I distrust the regime.

To obtain an assessment of changes in purchasing behavior of beef after reading the articles, nosotros asked the respondents to select ane of the following responses: "My purchasing design will not change", "I will reduce my purchasing design", "I will but buy beef whose safety is guaranteed", or "I will not buy beef at all".

All participants were as well questioned about their preference for beef, frequency of purchasing beefiness, and the average unit of measurement price of beefiness they usually buy (i.e., "How much did you pay per 100 g of beef before you read the newspaper articles?"), and their annual household income.

Willingness-to-pay measurement

The respondents who answered "I volition only buy beef whose rubber is guaranteed" were asked to state their maximum WTP for 100 g of 'safe' beef. The open-ended question "If safe BSE-free beefiness was available, how much would yous be willing to pay for information technology?" was used to determine the WTP values. This question did not differentiate types or quality of beefiness, such as betwixt Japanese blackness cattle and other Japanese beef. The average ratio between WTP and regular purchase prices was also calculated.

Statistical analysis

Chi-square tests were used to compare anxiety scores, reasons for feeling anxiety, and changes in purchasing behavior among groups. Ane-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the hateful values of age, annual income, regular buy toll, and anxiety scores. Differences between groups for WTP and the ratio between WTP and regular purchase cost were evaluated by ANOVA and Turkey's HSD post hoc test. Factors affecting WTP were analyzed by categorical regression analysis. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS ver. xiv.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL). P values <0.05 were considered to be significant.

Results

Figureone shows the number of BSE-related articles and the total number of characters in these articles. A spiked increase in the number of articles was found on the days when the newspapers reported the first BSE-infected cow on September 11, the erroneous publication by the MAFF on September 15, and the frequent changes in the MHLW's decisions on Oct 13.

The number of newspaper manufactures and the total number of characters devoted to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in September and October, 2001

Tabular arrayi shows the participants' backgrounds in each grouping. There were no significant differences in terms of hateful age, annual income, preference for beef, or regular purchase toll of beef amidst the 3 groups.

Table2 shows the level of feet caused by reading designated articles according to the three groups. The anxiety scores were different among the iii groups (P < 0.002), with significant differences noted betwixt Groups A and C and between Groups B and C. The average anxiety score was significantly lower in Grouping C (ane.seventy) than in groups A (ane.98) or B (one.92) (P < 0.05).

Table 2

Anxiety caused by reading the articles

The reasons for anxiety differed betwixt the three groups, as shown in Table2. The most common reasons for anxiety among Group A participants were "Road of BSE infection is even so unknown" and "BSE too occurred in Nihon". "Road of BSE infection is still unknown" was more unremarkably cited in Group A than in Groups B and C, and in Group B than in Group C. No difference was noted betwixt Groups A and B for "BSE too occurred in Nippon", "I might accept eaten BSE-infected beef", "the number of BSE-infected cows might be increasing in Japan", and "I distrust the government". Nevertheless, participants in Group B were more likely to answer "I might have eaten BSE-infected beef" and "the number of BSE-infected cows might be increasing in Japan". The rates for the start iv items were significantly lower and the remaining two items, "I doubt the credibility of the presented information itself" and "I distrust the government", were significantly higher in Group C than in Groups A and B.

In terms of the modify in purchasing behavior after reading the articles, the statistical analysis showed a near-significant difference at P < 0.055. Thus, nosotros concluded that in that location was niggling departure when a significance level of P < 0.05 was used. Nevertheless, about forty% of people in Group C reported "No change", whereas Group B individuals were more likely to respond "I volition purchase less beef" and "I volition but buy beef whose safety is guaranteed".

Every bit shown in Tableiii, 197 participants provided a WTP for safe beef (67 from Grouping A, 70 from Group B, and 57 from Group C). There were no differences between groups in terms of almanac household income, preference for beefiness, and age for the WTP respondents. The average WTP values (±SD) for safe beef were ¥391 ± 264, ¥491 ± 256, and ¥400 ± 230 for Groups A, B, and C individuals, respectively. The boilerplate WTP among Group B individuals was slightly, simply non significantly, higher than that amongst Group A participants (P < 0.10). In add-on, categorical regression assay showed significant differences between groups in terms of almanac household income and preference for beef (Table4). Of those who stated a WTP, lx, 66, and 51 participants in Groups A, B, and C, respectively, too stated their regular purchase price. The ratio between WTP and the regular buy cost was significantly lower in Group C than in Grouping B based on Turkey's HSD post hoc test (Tabular arrayv), although there was little difference between groups using ANOVA (P = 0.055).

Table 3

Willingness-to-pay for 100 g of safety beef among participants who answered "I will only purchase beef whose safety is guaranteed"

Grouping	n	Hateful WTP ± SD (¥)	Significancea
A	67	391 ± 264	P < 0.10
B	70	491 ± 256
C	57	400 ± 230

^aDifference in willingness-to-pay (WTP) for safe beef among participants who answered "I will simply purchase beefiness whose safety is guaranteed" was not significant (P < 0.10) between Grouping A and B participants

Table 4

Categorical regression analysis of WTP for safe beef

Categories	Standardized coefficient	F value	P value
Grouping	0.161	v.627	0.004
Household annual income	0.167	4.815	0.009
Preference for beefiness	0.074	3.049	0.030

Adjusted R ^two = 0.139

Table v

Difference betwixt WTP and regular purchase price

Group	n	Ratio between WTP and regular buy pricea
A	60	1.35 ± 0.41
B	66	1.46 ± 0.53b
C	51	i.27 ± 0.35b

Discussion

In Europe, BSE-related paper articles have been reported to take had a large effect on beefiness consumption behavior. Miller [12] establish that there were two peaks for trends in BSE reports in British national newspapers over the 9 years from 1988 to 1996, with the first peak respective to the time when it was shown, in 1990, that BSE can even infect cats, and the second tiptop corresponding to the time when the British government published, in 1995, that the consumption of BSE-infected cattle may be a causal factor for vCJD in humans. The consumption of beef decreased markedly immediately after both peaks. Verbeke [13] reported that, in Belgium, the consumption of beef decreased markedly after reports of a BSE incident in 1996. Our enquiry demonstrates that reading BSE-related articles induces anxiety in terms of purchasing prophylactic beef: the average anxiety score was almost ii (felt considerable feet; Tabletwo), which was like to the results of the studies in Europe, as described above.

Nosotros also demonstrated that anxiety can be reduced by providing the consumers with more information considering the feet score was lowest in Group C (=ane.70), followed by Grouping B (=1.92) and A (=1.98). This may exist explained by the amount of the information provided.

The participants in Group C were asked to read all half-dozen articles so asked to state their anxiety afterwards reading articles 1 and ii, and and so after reading articles 3 and 4. More than 95% of participants in Group C felt levels of anxiety afterward reading articles 1 and 2 and after then reading manufactures 3 and 4 also that were similar to that experienced by Group A and B participants, respectively. Therefore, we conclude that articles 1–four had similar impacts on all 3 groups, while reading articles five and half-dozen collection the different impacts in Grouping C. Thus, these differences may be explained by the amount of data provided.

In terms of the reasons for feeling feet, the most frequent answer of Group A individuals was "Route of BSE infection is nevertheless unknown", with 88.0% providing a positive response, followed by "BSE occurred in Japan" and "I might swallow BSE-infected beef". In Grouping B, 88.six% of the participants answered "I might consume BSE-infected beef", followed by "BSE also occurred in Japan". The responses "I uncertainty the credibility of the presented information itself" and "I distrust the government" were more frequently reported past Group C participants than past those in Groups A and B.

In terms of the change in purchasing beliefs after reading the articles, the percentage of participants who reported "no change" was highest in Group C. In dissimilarity, "I volition purchase only beefiness whose safe is guaranteed" and "I will terminate purchasing beef" were less oftentimes reported in Group C than in Groups A and B.

Based on these results, it can exist concluded that both the content and the amount of information available greatly influence changes in purchasing behavior; this effect is particularly evident in Grouping C. Manufactures 5 and half dozen, which reported that the false-positive results in the screening tests occurred at a constant charge per unit and that the distribution to the market would exist stopped until the results were confirmed every bit negative by decisive diagnosis, had less impact and caused less anxiety than the get-go four articles. Furthermore, although articles 5 and 6 reduced the level of anxiety over beef itself, they expressed increased distrust in the government and in the information being released to the public. Further analysis is needed to determine the effects of the content of Articles 5 and half-dozen and the reasons underlying the lower anxiety score amidst Group C participants.

The results of this survey prove that the average regular buy price was almost ¥350. In 2007, the same yr as our survey was conducted, Yamane conducted a monitoring survey among Japanese females in their 30s and 50s to examine the changes in purchasing behaviors when the blanket testing of all cattle was continued or when tests on cattle anile ≤xx months were discontinued. In their study, the purchase price of domestic beefiness was ¥295 per 100 g. Withal, equally described by Yamane, this price was lower than the regular price considering most of the subjects purchased beefiness during a period of depression prices [8]. Iwamoto et al. [6] reported that the boilerplate purchase price of beef was ¥328 per 100 thou. Thus, the boilerplate regular purchase price stated by the participants in our survey was comparable with those in these earlier studies.

The average WTP in the total study sample was about ¥430 per 100 g. In 2001, McCluskey et al. [vii] calculated that the price premium, i.due east., the departure from the boilerplate purchase price, would exist increased by 50% because 244 of 381 respondents in their written report stated that they would pay a premium for safe food and for safe supported by testing. Iwamoto et al. [six], surveyed 1,536 individuals in 2002 with respect to their WTP for traceable beef and estimated an increase of ¥xviii (5.half dozen%) in average WTP (average purchase price: ¥328 per 100 g). Thus, the WTP for safe beef ranges from 5 to 50%. Unfortunately, we cannot compare our WTP estimates with those reported by McCluskey et al. [vii] or Iwamoto et al. [6] considering ours were reported past the respondents themselves, while the WTP values reported by McCluskey et al. and Iwamoto et al. were estimates. However, our results (WTP-boilerplate purchase price = ¥118, which is an increase of 30%) are valid because they autumn within the range of the values of McCluskey et al. and Iwamoto et al.

The categorical regression analysis revealed significant differences between the three groups (Tabular array4), although Turkey's HSD post hoc test did non (Tabular array3). The differences between these methods tin can be explained by the fact that WTP tends to be biased past the household income and the preference for beefiness, which were adjusted for in the categorical regression analysis. Tablefive as well demonstrates that group B participants had the highest ratio between WTP and the regular purchase price. Overall, it seems that the WTP was increased by reading articles related to the BSE incidence and decreased by reading additional articles.

We estimated consumers' WTP to quantify their "desire for safe beef". Even so, every bit shown here, the WTP for safe beef is not related to the degree of anxiety. Instead, WTP may be linked to the contents of articles that are read. Participants in Group C reported lower anxiety scores after reading articles five and six which expressed an increased distrust of the regime and of the information being provided by the authorities. WTP and the ratio between WTP and the regular purchase cost were greatest amongst Grouping B participants, which may be due to the contents of the articles, which influenced WTP, rather than the number of articles read. In other words, the expressed distrust of the government reduced the desire for safety beef and lowered the WTP in Group C. De Jonge et al. [14] reported that distrust of the institutions responsible for ensuring the prophylactic of beefiness and fish could cause the consumers to go unsure of food safety. Yamane calculated that discontinuation of blanket BSE testing would lower the price premium by 25.68% [8]. These results propose that the distrust of the government reduced the desire for condom beef and lowered the WTP in Group C participants.

The questionnaire used in our study did non differentiate between Japanese black cattle beef and other Japanese beef, whereas Aizaki et al. [15] conducted a multiple-choice survey on WTP for safe beef in which a preference for Japanese blackness cattle beef, other Japanese beef, Australian beef and U.S. beefiness was included every bit a variable. Each participant in our survey may have had different personal impressions about beef, ranging from expensive Japanese black cattle beefiness to other kinds of relatively cheap Japanese beef; this is likely to be represented past their stated WTP and anxiety level. However, nosotros have also demonstrated that WTP was influenced past household income and by the preference for beef, as shown in Tabular array4, which may also be influenced by the image of beefiness. Therefore, nosotros adjusted the WTP for household income and preference for beefiness, which should avoid possible furnishings of different personal image of beef. Further studies are needed to appraise the WTP for safe beef in which detailed classifications of the source of the beef are included as variables.

In terms of the roles of newspaper articles in risk communications, Bauer et al. [16] prepared a report for the Earth Health Organization Europe. In this report, they counted the number of newspaper articles in iv countries (United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, Germany, Italy, and Finland) and the number of characters used in those manufactures. They institute that when the Britain government publicly appear that BSE could also infect human beings in March 1996, the number of related newspaper articles greatly increased in all four countries. Similarly, the number of newspaper reports increased in 2000 and 2001 when BSE was plant in Germany, Italy, and Republic of finland. These researchers also examined the salient features of those articles and concluded that the part of the mass media was probable to contribute to the germination of a public opinion rather than to respond to real-fourth dimension events.

The participants in our survey were asked to state their impressions of the paper articles written more than 5 years before. Consequently, public sensation of BSE may have declined in the intervening menstruum, and the results of this survey may non fully reflect the impact of these articles during the panic period. In addition, in that location is a sample bias considering all participants were Internet users.

Based on our results, we have come to the following conclusions. Kickoff, the reasons for the anxiety reflect the content of each article, as shown in Table2, indicating that the content was well understood. 2nd, equally the number of read articles increased from Group A to Group C, the level of anxiety decreased. Based on these results, it tin can be causeless that the anxiety of general consumers can be reduced if they receive appropriate information by reading articles. Unlike TV programs that repeatedly report the same news, newspapers contain more and diverse content as the number of articles increase. However, in this survey, the effects of the articles selected could not be revealed because we did not examine how the contents of the articles affected the responses earlier their choice and presentation to respondents. Nevertheless, we conclude that access to more than articles provides more data and can decrease anxiety. In add-on, the content of the articles provided may affect the WTP for condom beefiness. The results may include some bias toward the presence and number of children, ages of children, frequency of cooking at dwelling, and education, and they may be limited because of these factors. Further studies are needed to determine the relationships between article content and anxiety.

Overall, the findings of this study indicate that newspapers provide an constructive risk communication tool by which to provide an advisable volume of truthful articles on a regular basis.

Acknowledgments

The present report was funded by the Food Safety Commission of the Chiffonier Part, Government of Japan. The authors thank Mako Yabunouchi for profitable with this report.

Appendix: Summary of the half-dozen articles presented (originally published in Japanese-language newspapers)

Article ane (reported on September eleven, 2001 in Yomiuri)

A cow, which was fed in Chiba prefecture, was diagnosed with BSE. This was the starting time example of BSE disease to occur in Nihon. The cow had become unable to stand in early on August. Milk from this moo-cow had been included in shipments to consumers. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) said that milk intake would never crusade infection in humans.

Article 2 (reported on September xiii, 2001 in Asahi)

The farmer who bred the first BSE-infected moo-cow had already sold 72 cows in 2001. All of the breeding farmers asserted that they did not feed meat-and-bone meal to their cows. The MAFF decided to conduct a nationwide survey of all cows and cattle with BSE-related neurological symptoms.

Article 3 (reported on September fifteen, 2001 in Mainichi)

The MAFF's argument that the BSE-infected moo-cow was destroyed turned out to be misleading. The moo-cow was actually processed to bone-meal feed at a mill producing feeds. The administrative authority of Chiba prefecture plant that office of the bone meal feed was distributed to the market place and the remaining feed had been stored by a trader.

Article 4 (reported on September xv, 2001 in Asahi)

The Ministry of Wellness, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW) has decided to conduct checks on all of the approximately one one thousand thousand cows and cattle aged ≥30 months. This examination standard is as strict every bit that of the European union. In the past, only cows and cattle with neurological symptoms were subjected to the test in Japan. The new standard will likely entail a high expenditure, estimated at a full of 25 meg dollars.

Commodity 5 (reported on October 13, 2001 in Asahi)

The MHLW was dislocated in disclosing the positive results of a screening test for BSE. In the screening tests, false-positive results occur in one or two cows per 1,000 cows. The MHLW intended not to publicly disclose the results of the screening tests until its decisive result became articulate. However, the administrative authority of Tokyo prefecture disclosed the positive outcome before long afterwards it was detected in the screening exam. Eventually, the MHLW decided to set a management and announced that information technology would disclose all screening results.

Commodity 6 (reported on October 17, 2001 in Asahi)

The MAFF insisted that the disclosure of false-positive results in the screening tests would cause harmful rumors. According to this opinion, the MHLW changed its policy of not disclosing screening test results. The MHLW banned shipment of screening-positive beefiness until a negative result was finally obtained in further testing.

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Articles from Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Japanese Guild for Hygiene

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Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2921042/

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