WASHINGTON - South Korea has not detected the E. coli bacteria in any additional beef from the United States over the past several weeks, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said Tuesday.
Glickman also told reporters he felt "comfortable" that the two countries will be able resolve concerns, stemming from South Korea's earlier discovery of E. coli in a shipment of 18.18 tonnes of U.S beef, without a major effect on trade.
Paul Drazek, Glickman's special adviser for trade, said South Korea inspectors had examined some 270 additional samples of U.S. beef and found no more E. coli.
"It could very well be just a random occurence," he said.
A U.S. team just back from South Korea also determined that South Korea tests and procedure used to detect E. coli were consistent with those used in the United States, Drazek said.
A team of South Korea experts will visit the United States next week to tour meat processing facilities and get a first-hand view of the U.S. inspection system, he said.
Although the South Korean government has taken no action to block U.S. beef, the discovery of E. coli in the shipment from the United States last month did have an adverse affect on Korean consumer demand, Drazek said.
Glickman noted that increased testing for E. coli, as government strives to improve food safety, inevitably means that it will be detected more often.
In the South Korea case, "I feel comfortable that the processes are working fairly well" to avoid a major disruption in trade, he said.
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