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South Korea suspends beef from one Swift facility

South Korea has suspended beef shipments from a JBS USA Swift Beef plant after the growth promotant Zilmax was found in the meat. The government of South Korea said the contamination was found in 22 tons of meat, South Korea does not accept beef from animals which used the growth promotants.  JBS USA issued a statement saying: “We are working with our partners at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the South Korean government to resolve the issue concerning one of our U.S. facilities. Importantly, this is not a food safety issue. In addition, the manufacturer of the feed additive in question has voluntarily suspended sales of the product in the U.S.”

After receiving complaints about ill-effects on cattle, Merck halted the sale of Zilmax on August 16th but did not recall any of the product so it is possible some was used after the suspension.

Reuters notes that since the suspension involves one particular unit of one company, they may just buy beef from other U.S. plants to make up the difference. South Korea imported 75,426 metric tons of U.S. beef from January to September, with 4,697 metric tons coming from Swift Beef.