The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is considering measures to ensure the disposal of the cow body parts that pose the greatest risk of transmitting mad cow disease, ministry sources said Friday.
Brains, spinal cords and small intestines would be earmarked for disposal as they are considered to put consumers at a high risk of contracting the human variant of the disease.
The ministry has no intention of taking such measures at this stage, with only one suspected case of mad cow disease having ever been recorded in Japan. An official said, however, that "if more cows (suspected of carrying the disease) are discovered, we have to draw up concrete measures."