The health ministry said Thursday it has detected E. coli inside beef liver for the first time, raising the likelihood that raw liver may soon be banned from the dining table.
The findings, to be discussed by a ministry council next Tuesday, come as the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has been considering whether to prohibit butchers and restaurants from selling raw beef liver, in the wake of food poisoning deaths from raw beef served at barbecue restaurants earlier this year.
Food poisoning from E. coli can be fatal and thorough heating for over one minute at 75 degrees is necessary to kill the enterohemorrhagic bacteria in the liver. (Japan Times)
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