WASHINGTON - Agriculture Department officials said Friday they were investigating a South Korean report of finding the harmful E. coli bacteria in a shipment of frozen beef from the United States.
The report came five weeks after the largest meat recall in U.S. history -- 25 million pounds of hamburger patties -- also because of the O157:H7 E. coli strain, which can cause food borne illness. Three children died in an outbreak in 1993 blamed on undercooked meat.
South Korea was the fourth largest customer for U.S. beef exports. In the first seven months of this year, it bought 108 million pounds of U.S. beef. Last year, it bought 155.7 million pounds worth $244 million.
South Korea's Agriculture Ministry said that inspectors had detected the bacteria in a shipment of 40,100 pounds. It said the meat came from the Dakota City, Neb., plant of IBP Inc., the largest U.S. meatpacker.
"We notified the company and asked it to destroy or return 18.18 (metric tons) of frozen beef contaminated by the bacteria," said Lee Kap-ihl, director of the food safety test division of the National Animal Quarantine Service.
Agriculture Department officials said they confirmed IBP was the supplier. The department will run its own tests to double-check the South Korean finding, a press aide said.
"We have not been officially notified by the (department) or an agency of the Korean government," IBP spokesman Gary Mickelson said. Nonetheless, he said IBP was looking into the reports.
"If confirmed, we will assure the product is properly disposed," Mickelson said.
Spokeswoman Jacque Knight of the Food Safety and Inspection Service said the agency was "not aware of any problems at all" at the Dakota City plant. Private sources said IBP was regarded as a leader in food safety efforts.
Analysts said there probably will be little impact on beef sales. Americans were forecast to consume a record 25.9 billion pounds of beef this year. Beef exports were pegged at 1.9 billion pounds.
The amount of meat involved in the South Korean report was too small to affect cattle prices, traders said. Live cattle prices at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were up slightly for the day when trading ended.
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