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Measures taken to prevent BSE in Japan
Currently, it is believed that the spread of BSE infection can be prevented by controlling the potential sources of infection.
Measures taken to prevent BSE in Japan (3 pillars)
Measures taken in Japan to prevent BSE infection focus on three key pillars.
Fodder regulations
→ Measures to prevent cattle from becoming infected with BSE
The Removal of Specified Risk Materials (SRM)
→ Measures to prevent infection in humans
BSE inspections
→ Inspections which check for abnormal prions in cattle brains
Fodder regulations
The source of BSE infection is believed to be meat-and-bone meal (MBM) made from infected cattle.
Japan was one of many countries which used meat-and-bone meal (MBM) as fodder for cattle prior to the outbreak of BSE. However, with the confirmation of the first case of BSE in the country in September 2001, the use of meat-and-bone meal (MBM) as fodder became regulated by law starting the following month in October 2001, thoroughly preventing further BSE infection at the source.
As a result, no cases of BSE have been confirmed to date in all cattle born in January 2002 onward. Thus fodder regulations are used to control the risk of new BSE infections in cattle in the country.
Removal of Specified Risk Materials (SRM)
Abnormal prions concentrate and accumulate in specific parts of cattle.
In Japan, Specified Risk Materials are removed at slaughterhouses and measures are taken to verify that these parts have been properly removed based on the Slaughterhouse Act and the Food Sanitation Act.
In addition to the removal of Specified Risk Materials, Slaughter Inspectors who are employed by the prefectures (which contain cities establishing health center) and who are licensed as veterinarians inspect each cow. The Slaughter Inspectors inspect each cow multiple times, while they are alive and through multiple stages of processing, ensuring that all portions not suitable for consumption due to the potential for disease, etc., are removed and guaranteeing that only safe meat is delivered to the public.
BSE inspections
Samples are taken of the brain (medulla oblongata) when the cow is butchered at slaughterhouses and a BSE inspection is conducted to check for the presence of the abnormal prions which cause BSE based on the Slaughterhouse Act and the Act on Special Measures Concerning Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.
From the time BSE inspections began in 2001 up to the end of March 2013, approximately 14.04 million cattle were inspected for BSE at slaughterhouses in Japan, with 21 cases of infection being discovered.
Including inspection results conducted on cattle which died at farms, etc., prior to transportation to a slaughterhouse, a total of 36 cases of BSE infection have been discovered domestically (as of the end of March 2013).
BSE inspections do not directly affect the safety of meat, but accumulating data on BSE inspection results has made it possible to understand the state of BSE infections in the country as well as to use this information in measures to prevent the spread and occurrence of BSE, complimenting BSE countermeasures taken in Japan.
The Ordinance for Enforcement of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy were revised on June 3, 2013, and starting on July 1 of the same year, cattle aged 48 months and older also became subject to BSE inspection.