Lawmakers from the ruling coalition parties are planning a beef-eating gathering Tuesday to dispel mounting fears over mad cow disease, a Liberal Democratic Party official said Friday.
The move comes after the nation's first case of the fatal brain disease was confirmed last week.
Former farm minister Shoichi Nakagawa informed an LDP executive liaison meeting of the gathering at the Parliamentary Museum in Tokyo.
Nakagawa said that eating beef is safe -- unless the spinal cord, eyeballs or small intestines of cows are consumed.
"All executives are to participate and to eat at least one slice as proof (that the beef is safe)," Nakagawa said. "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will also sample some, and by no means will he be putting his life at risk."
A notice about the gathering states that the lawmakers will provide support for breeders and beef-distributors by promoting the safety of beef to consumers.
Beef processed mainly from animals bred in Hokkaido and Chiba Prefecture will be eaten at the gathering. , according to organizers.
A Holstein at a farm in Chiba Prefecture was identified earlier this month as a possible carrier of the disease, with British government veterinarians later confirming that the cow was indeed a carrier.
Mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was first confirmed in Britain in 1986. It is thought to cause the human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.