TAIPEI,Taiwan -- The best and safest way for consumers who seek to protectthemselves over safety concern about American beef products is toexclude U.S. products from their daily meals, according to medicalexperts. They pointed out that the public uproar over the U.S.pressure to force the government here to widen imports of Americanbeef products and lawmakers' plan of revising existing regulationsfor a direct ban on certain beef products underline the unfairinternational practice dictated by strong powers. 

    Taiwanhas been prohibited from shipping its pork to many nations since the1997 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, which is not alife-threatening livestock illness, they said. However, the handfulnations with mad cow disease cases have forced other nations toimport their beef products. The mad cow disease caused 168 confirmedhuman deaths in the period of 1995 to 1996, they said. Despite thegovernment efforts of establishing tighter beef quarantine andinspection through administrative measures plus the boycott of manyrestaurants and retailers, there is no guarantee for the safety ofbeef products like skulls, backbones, brain matter, and certainintestine parts and organs, they noted.

    Theyalso cast doubts over the effectiveness of public resistance to theeased beef imports by holding a referendum for reopening the talks onbeef trade. The best way to shield themselves from safety hazardsthat could be caused by imported products is to reject the purchaseand use of beef products from abroad, they said. Consumers shouldespecially stay away from the cattle's internal organs, ground beef,and bones from the U.S. This will be an effective way to showimporters that there will be no profits for them if they insist onshipping such products to the Taiwan market, they said. In order toreduce possible side effects, the government and legislators shouldteam up to amend the rules and ban imports of all productsmade of cattle materials from areas infected with mad cow disease.They said the prohibited products should include cattle bone powderfor teeth and other medical operations.