Infected beef not put on the market

Infected beef not put on the market. February. 11, 2017 07:06. by Hye-Ryung Choi herstory@donga.com.

As a serious outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) occurred in not only dairy cattle but also Korean native cattle, or hanwoo, consumers are feeling uneasy about eating beef and drinking milk. In order to address public concerns in FMD, the government said that it is safe to eat beef and drink milk as the disease does not affect people.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on Friday that FMD is an infectious disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals only and humans are not infected when they contact with contaminated animals. The ministry also said that people do not have to worry if you accidently eat pork or beef infected with FMD as the virus tends to be sensitive to heat and it is inactivated by heating to 50 degrees Celsius for over 30 minutes.

During the process of distribution, the acid level of meat drops as time goes by, creating an environment where FMD virus is difficult to survive. Thus, the ministry explains that it is safe to eat seasoned law beef, or yukhoe. According to the ministry, tender muscle parts are usually used for yukhoe and these parts are the areas where the virus is difficult to survive. Also, the infected pigs and cows are all slaughtered due to the policy pertaining to foot and mouth and cannot be used as yukhoe.

The virus in milk placed on the market is removed during sterilization. Not to mention sterilized milk that is pasteurized at 150 degrees Celsius or higher, conventional milk also goes through sterilization at over 90 degrees Celsius as well. It has been known that FMD virus is terminated when it is heated for 7 seconds at 76 degrees Celsius or higher temperature.