a shipment of imported U.S. beef, marking the third such case within the last two weeks. Hsieh Ting-hung, deputy director of the DOH's Bureau of Food Safety, said that the beef was from Colorado based Swift Beef Co., which has been banned by the DOH from shipping its products to Taiwan since Nov. 27.
However, he said that beef in question was already on its way to Taiwan in mid November, so the DOH accepted the application for inspection from the Taipei importer.
The two pieces of bone fragments measure 2.4 centimeters and 4.8 centimeters in size, respectively Hsieh said, adding that the importer will now have to send back or destroy the shipment.
Two bone fragments were also found in a Swift Beef Co. shipment in late November. Earlier, Cargill of Nebraska was also banned from shipping its products to Taiwan for the same reason.
The number of U.S. beef packaging houses allowed to export their products to Taiwan now stands at 44.
Taiwan banned beef imports from the United States in December 2003 after the discovery in Washington State of a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.
In April 2005, Taiwan lifted an import ban on U.S. boneless beef from animals under 30 months of age but then suspended American beef imports again on June 25 of the same year after a second case of mad cow disease was confirmed in the United States.
Taiwan lifted the second ban on Jan. 25, 2006, but in April 2006, Taiwan found bone fragments in a shipment of beef from U.S. meat supplier Tyson Fresh Meats, leading Taipei to halve its imports from the packing house.
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