South Korean retailers halt sales of US beef after mad cow discovery

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Fox News:

Two major South Korean retailers have temporarily stopped selling U.S. beef after mad cow disease was discovered in a dairy cow in California.

South Korea's No. 2 and No. 3 supermarket chains, Home Plus and Lotte Mart, have "temporarily" halted sales of U.S. beef to calm worries among South Koreans.

"We stopped sales from today," said Chung Won-hun a Lotte Mart spokesman. "Not that there were any quality issues in the meat but because consumers were worried."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed the country’s fourth case of mad cow disease in a dairy cow in California on Tuesday, but urged that there was no public health risk.

According to a statement released by USDA Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford, the cow had not entered the food supply. Clifford said the animal’s carcass is being held at a rendering facility and will be destroyed.

It has not been revealed where the cow originated, but a senior manager with a California rendering company says they discovered the cow had the disease while it was at his Hanford, California, transfer station.