All Kobe beef in city fake or illegal

All "Kobe beef" on sale in Beijing's restaurants is either fake or illegally imported, but the trade is difficult to stamp out, according to municipal food safety authorities.

Expensive dishes of Kobe beef are served in many restaurants in Beijing. On Chinese consumer website dianping.com, eight restaurants have Kobe beef listed as their signature dish, with an average price per person of 500 yuan ($80). Changcheng Wangjiao, in Tuanjiehu, Chaoyang district, one of the restaurants, charges 1,680 yuan for 500 grams of "Kobe beef" hotpot.

However, according to a China Central Television report on February 3, the usual price for genuine Kobe beef is over 3,000 yuan per kilogram.

"Kobe beef is the best meat we have as well as a favorite choice of our consumers. We've been selling it for more than 10 years and customers love it," said an anonymous employee from Changcheng Wangjiao on Monday.

"We import the beef from Japan, it's first class and I can guarantee it's real. All of it is, and it has been quarantined," said the employee.

However, all Kobe beef in China is bound to be either fake or illegal, said an anonymous media officer from Beijing Food Safety Administration.

"China banned all imports of beef and beef products from Japan in 2001," he said.

"It is not recommended to consume this 'Kobe beef' as there are risks since it could not have entered China through legal channels," said the officer.

China banned Japanese imports of beef due to BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease), according to the website of China's official quality watchdog, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

The officer said though selling Kobe beef is against Chinese law, it is difficult to punish these restaurants.

"Many restaurants do not have Kobe beef on their menu, but claim they have when you ask them. This is illegal but we cannot punish them unless written records are found," he said.

Kobe beef refers only to meat from cows of "Tajima-gyu" lineage born and bred in farms in Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan. The brand name can only be used for beef that meets the criteria, including being slaughtered in certain slaughter houses and a determined fat ratio to produce the distinctive marbling effect on the meat. Wagyu beef, from the Wagyu cow, but bred outside the area, is often confused with Kobe beef.

Kobe beef from outside this region of Japan cannot be labeled as such, in the same way that sparkling wine labeled as champagne can only come from the Champagne region of France.

In calls to three of Beijing's most popular Japanese restaurants, Hatsune, Kagen Teppanyaki, and Tairyo Teppanyaki, staff said Kobe beef had never been available in any of them.

Zhu Yi, associate professor at the China Agricultural University in food security and nutrition, said that from a nutritional perspective, the differences between Kobe beef and regular beef are slight.

"I've been to Kobe and tasted original Kobe beef, and found there was no big difference in taste from Inner Mongolian beef. Also its protein won't be richer than ordinary beef," Zhu told the Global Times.

But consuming this beef could be dangerous, as Japan is still an area infected with BSE, said Zhu.

"The virus causing mad cow disease can't be killed through ordinary cooking methods. Not to say many people like to eat rare beef," said Zhu.

From 2001 to 2008, Japan detected 36 cases of BSE-infected cattle, but none since 2009, according to the Japan Times on November 1, 2011.

The high price of Kobe beef has made smuggling a profitable business.

Last December, 21.5 kilograms of Kobe beef was confiscated and destroyed by the airport branch of Beijing Entry-exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau. The beef was found at Terminal 3 on December 6 by a quarantine dog in the luggage of a Chinese passenger who had come from Japan.

This is not the only case of cheaper or fake foodstuffs being sold at premium prices. In January, many restaurants in Beijing were found to be selling fake shark fin for the price of genuine fin, and in April 2012, supermarkets in the capital were discovered selling cheaper oil fish labeled and priced as cod.