1. Food Safety in Japan - Consumers' Perceptions on livestock products and policy- Shinichi Kobayashi College of Bioresource Sciences Nihon University

2. The purpose of this presentation  to describe the changing pattern of livestock products’ consumption in Japan for the last four decades,  to discuss Japanese consumers’ perceptions on meat in comparison with those of other countries including Australia, particularly in relation to food safety,  to analyse the policy issue related to food safety.

3.  The consumption of livestock products in Japan had increased steeply because of the Westernization of our diet and reflecting rising income levels  The per capita annual meat consumption increased nearly six times from 5.2 kg in 1960 to 28.8 kg in 2000.

4.  The rate of growth has been declining.  The rate of growth of consumption varied by varieties of meat.

6.  The increase in household consumption represented less than 10% of total increase in per person beef consumption.  The increase in beef consumption in the 1990s mainly because of the growing demand in the food service industry, which was dependent on imports.

7.  The per capita meat consumption in Japan is still low compared to those in foreign countries.  It is difficult to foresee an increase in the consumption in Japan up to the level of the Western people.  Because of 1.lless calories intake 2. fish consumption

8.  Japan showed no item in the group of meats of which the above index exceeds 120.  In other developed countries, all livestock products including milk showed low figures.  As income rise, consumers’ willingness to eat more meat will decline in the developing countries as well as in developed countries.

9.  Indexes are consistently high for fish and vegetables.  Among livestock products the indexes for pork & chicken are low.  There has been a post-import-liberalization decline in the index for beef, which had remained high until the end of the 1980s.  The index for beef, which had fallen to 63 in 1996 when E coli O-157 food poisoning occurred, recovered in 1998 but was still below 100.  The value of the index dropped to 62 in 2002 and recovered to 64 in 2004 due to the impact of BSE in Japan (2001) and in the USA (2004).

10. Recent Livestock Diseases & Related Incidents in Japan  1996 E-coli O-157  2000 FMD  Snow Brand milk poisoning incident  2001 BSE  2003 BSE(USA)  2004 Avian Influenza

11.  The averages for either domestic or imported meats were relatively low (1.9 to 3.2).  Domestic meats were always higher than imported ones.  The score for domestic beef in 2002 was exceptionally low due to BSE in Japan.  The score for domestic beef recovered to 2.7 in 2004 while imported one dropped to 1.9.

13.  Two third of consumers decreased beef consumption because of BSE in 2001.  10% of consumers increased the consumption of other meats such as pork and chicken.  People simply decreased the eating of meats, rather than shifting from beef to other meats.

14. Consumers stopped eating beef & related foods (2004)  64.5% of consumers stopped eating beef just after the first BSE  Two and half years later, the majority restarted consuming it again,  although 16.1% of consumers still did not eat beef.

16.  As far as food safety is concerned, domestic products are always valued far above imported ones not only in Japan but in Australia and the US.  However, consumers do not think that farmers, distributors and the government are paying enough attention to production and distribution of safe foods.

17. Two major food safety policies after the BSE incidence  Setting up the Food Safety Committee independently from the MAFF and the Ministry of Welfare and Labor in July 2003.  The beef traceability law has been enforced from December 2003.

23.  Only one fourth of consumers know the traceability system.  But most of those who do not know of it support the idea that the system is necessary for assuring the beef safety.