EU eases testing of Thai shrimps
EU eases testing of Thai shrimps
BANGKOK: The European Union has eased testing requirements for imported Thai shrimps, saying Bangkok has brought under control a problem of contamination with cancer-causing antibiotics.
The EU said it would remove Thailand, the world's top exporter of frozen shrimps, from a list of problem countries and revert to the normal random testing of 10 percent of its shrimp imports. It had been testing all Thai shrimps.
"The improved testing methods and other methods introduced recently by the Thai authorities have proved effective," Klauspeter Schmallenbach, the European Commission ambassador to Thailand, said in a statement late on Wednesday.
Thai shrimp exports plunged almost 30 percent in the first half of 2002 immediately after the EU imposed tougher testing. This followed routine checks last February on Thai fisheries products, which tested positive for residues of nitrofurans, a banned group of cancer-causing antibiotics used by some Thai shrimp farmers to ward off disease. -- AFP
Suit against McDonald's dismissed
NEW YORK: In a major victory for the fast food industry, a federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a widely watched suit in which McDonald's hamburgers and French fries were blamed for children's obesity.
U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet said the plaintiffs, including a 14-year-old girl who is 4-foot-10 and 170 pounds, failed to show McDonald's Corp. products presented a danger unknown to consumers. He also cited concerns the case could "spawn thousands of similar 'McLawsuits'" against all types of restaurants.
"This opinion is guided by the principle that legal consequences should not attach to the consumption of hamburgers and other fast food fare unless consumers are unaware of the dangers of eating such food," Sweet said.
"If consumers know...the potential ill health effect of eating at McDonald's, they cannot blame McDonald's if they, nonetheless, choose to satiate their appetite with a surfeit of supersized McDonald's products." -- AFP
Seventh mad cow case in Japan
TOKYO: The Japanese government said Thursday it had found a seventh case infection of mad cow disease in a cow born in 1996.
An 81-month-old Holstein born and raised on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido Prefecture was found to be infected with the disease, said the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Specialists were to make a final diagnosis to confirm the cow was infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) Thursday evening, the ministry said.
The cow, slaughtered Tuesday, went through two sets of tests that showed positive results, the ministry said. Results from the second, more accurate tests, were confirmed Thursday morning.
The announcement followed official confirmation Sunday that a sixth cow, a Holstein in Wakayama Prefecture in southern Japan, was infected with the disease. -- AFP
Tourists offered coffee in E.Timor
MELBOURNE: Australian travelers have been offered an extra incentive to visit East Timor this year - coffee with the foreign minister.
Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta has asked tourists on the inaugural tour of Australia's Intrepid Travel company to sample "the best coffee in the world" at his "humble traditional home" when they arrive, company spokeswoman Jane Crouch said Thursday.
The tour has been timed to coincide with the first anniversary of East Timor's independence on May 20. The offer highlights two of East Timor's great economic hopes for the future - coffee exports and tourism.
Crouch said Nobel laureate Horta's offer was not surprising.
"The Timorese are very welcoming people," she said. "The minister for foreign affairs is keen to encourage tourism because he realizes the economic benefits."
Crouch said Intrepid felt the timing was right to begin tours to East Timor despite its lack of infrastructure and the Australian government's warning of security threats to travelers. -- AP