Taiwan Finds More U.S. Beef with Banned Feed Additive Zilpaterol

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

On Tuesday, Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration said it found U.S. beef with traces of the banned feed additive, Zilpaterol. The tainted beef was found at a restaurant owned by Wowprime Corp. All 203 kg of beef in question has been destroyed. This marks the third case in less than a month.

Earlier this month, South Korea officials halted some U.S. beef imports after detecting the feed additive in the beef at one of JBS USA’s units. Around the same time, Taiwan also found some beef tainted with the same drug. The most recent case of tainted beef was traced back to Swift Beef Company in Cactus, Texas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that due to recent events, the Texas plant is no longer eligible to ship beef to South Korea.

Zilpaterol is banned in much of Asia and Europe due to concerns about the potential side effects of the drug, which acts as a growth enhancer to add more muscle to the animals before slaughter. Merck & Co., the drug maker of Zilpaterol stopped selling the additive Aug. 16 over health concerns of animals showing signs of having trouble walking.  Authorities said they will be increasing their inspections of U.S. beef imports.