Deadly beef

ABOUT 2.21 tonnes of beef which was imported to South Korea will be sent back to the US after a strain of bacterium was detected in the meat. Chang Soo Hyang, a spokesperson for Korea's ministry of Agriculture and fishery said that the listeria bacteria was detected in the beef purchased from Nebraska-based Shenson International Inc. Listeria, which is killed when exposed to heat in excess of 65C, can cause miscarriages in pregnant women and food poisoning.

The South Korean government stepped up its testing of US beef after disclosure that E. coli had been found in ground beef processed at a Hudson Food Inc plant in August. The discovery led to a 25 million pound hamburger recall, the largest in US history. Farm trade between the two countries was forecast to reach US $3.5 billion in 1997.