December 28, 2001
		Japan Concealed Damaging Mad Cow Report It has been disclosed that the Japanese government quietly buried a report it commissioned from the European Union that was critical of their attempts to prevent mad cow disease. The report was apparently shelved because officials were afraid its disclosure would result in panic and reduced confidence in Japanese beef. The fatal disease has swept through Europe, particularly Great Britain, and its human counterpart, Cruetzfeldt-Jacob disease, has caused almost 100 deaths in Europe. Since the September discovery of the infected cow in Japan, there have been three more cases reported, and sales of Japanese beef have fallen dramatically. According to the Japanese daily newspaper Mainichi, the European Union study concluded that government policies were misguided and would increase the likelihood of the disease rather than preventing it. Japanese officials said the cows diagnosed with mad cow disease in the first three cases had been fed a milk substitute containing animal fat. The animal fat was imported from Holland and processed into a milk substitute by a laboratory in Japan, even though that country had banned cattle and dairy products from European Union countries earlier this year.