Source: MEATINGPLACE, 10/9/13

South Korea suspended imports of beef from a work site at JBS USA Holdings unit Swift Beef Co. after finding the cattle feed additive zilpaterol in a shipment, according to media reports from the country.

The substance, which is banned in South Korea, was found in a 22-metric-ton shipment from Greeley, Colo.-based Swift Beef Co. on Sept. 24, South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said. South Korea asked the United States to investigate the cause of the contamination.

Swift accounted for 5.8 percent of  the 75,426 metric tons of beef imported by South Korea from the United States in the nine months through September this year, Bloomberg reported.  

Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc. in August halted purchases of animals fed with Merck & Co.’s Zilmax, also known as zilpaterol.  

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