South Korea: meat consumption habits challenged by health problems

Lead: Seoul, April 17 (Reuters) - South Korea's meat consumption has increased dramatically in recent years with the rapid economic growth and the increasing income of South Koreans, government researchers said However, for food safety and health reasons, this trend will be fundamentally contained According to the National Academy of Livestock Research (nlri) of South Korea, the per capita consumption of meat in 2001 was nearly 32 kg, an increase of 60% over 1990 and nearly 200% over 1980 However, CHO soo Hyun, a researcher at nlri, also said that in the long run, meat consumption of the country's 47 million people will be affected due to food safety and health concerns "The increase of meat consumption comes from the increase of income level Although it seems that meat consumption will continue to grow with the development of the economy, there are several factors that will curb this trend " Various reports of animal diseases in Korean media, as well as the risk of eating high-fat food, have changed Korean views on meat consumption In 2000, bovine foot-and-mouth disease occurred in South Korea The disease does not cause harm to human health, but cloven hoofed animals such as pigs, cattle and deer are potentially fatal Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is also known as "mad cow disease" It was first discovered in England in 1986 This virus will cause human to suffer from a disease called "Jacques's disease" (vccd) Up to now, about 100 people have died of this disease or been confirmed to have this disease Although there have been no BSE cases in South Korea so far, the outbreak of BSE in Europe and Japan hit the beef consumption of South Korea last year Nlri said in a report that although South Korea's meat consumption level is still lower than that of several other countries, people are increasingly worried that eating meat will damage their health, such as additional weight gain Compared with other countries, Korean consumers prefer high-fat meat Therefore, the country should vigorously develop low-fat meat food to promote the growth of meat consumption According to nlri data, of the 32 kg of meat consumed per capita in South Korea last year, 8.5 kg was beef, 16.5 kg was pork and 6.9 kg was chicken In the same year, the per capita consumption of meat in Japan and the United States was 45 kg and 120 kg respectively According to data released by Korea trade information agency, 175044 tons of frozen beef and 5587 tons of fresh beef were imported from South Korea in 2001, of which the largest source was the United States, accounting for 98957 tons (frozen) and 4241 tons (fresh) Last year, South Korea also imported 98266 tons of frozen and fresh-keeping pork, 28006 tons of which came from Canada; and 54244 tons of 91487 tons of imported poultry meat came from the United States.