I am hearing rumours that soon everybody can start to import US Beef and by-products again. Has anyone else heard if this is true?
Domino’s pizza, who have not had pepperoni for a long time due to the ban said that they will have it again in 2 weeks as the ban will be lifted. Someone else told me that Costco will start again in June???
I haven’t heard anything official on this. Has anybody else heard??
Breeze supermarket has for several weeks had “specially approved” US beef.
Costco had beef last Sunday. Was from Australia though. I’m not sure why some places aren’t carrying beef as I recall reading that Taiwan imported somthing like 80% of beef from Australia even before the US ban. That shouldn’t be too difficult to adjust to.
Specially approved beef? Those cows must have good guanxi… :yinyang:
Been waiting and watching Costco, still no luck. That is where I use to load up on US beef. I wouldn’t dare go to Lawry’s again until the lift they ban.
Costco says there is no news about the beef ban being lifted anytime soon although Taiwan authorities are currently reviewing new USDA quarantine/inspection guidelines for cattle. They also say that Breeze supermarket does NOT sell USDA beef. They did say that their Kirkland pet food has been approved by Taiwan authorities though and will have new shipments around middle of June.
The Dominoes people lied to me about the pepperoni and the true story is that they will use a pork only pepperoni.
The Subway near Taoyuan TRA station just recently stopped using the large pepperoni salami in the pizza sub, and replaced it with some odd filler meat that pales in comparison to the salami. Anyone know or have a heads up if this is related to the beef ban? :s
yup, you can be pretty sure…the subway between main station and Ximending had a sign up in chinese and english stating that due to BSE there’d be no beef in the subs blah blah blah…
Justin,
I figured, but the one thing that boggles my mind is…wasn’t the ban implemented some time ago? And only now are they beginning to stop using beef products from the U.S.? Seems odd to me, unless they have one hell of a freezer full of meat shipped before the mad cow incident. 
Costco is either lying or ignorant.
I saw and purchased US beef at Breeze two weeks ago.
[quote=“SteveZeAuthor”]Justin,
I figured, but the one thing that boggles my mind is…wasn’t the ban implemented some time ago? And only now are they beginning to stop using beef products from the U.S.? Seems odd to me, unless they have one hell of a freezer full of meat shipped before the mad cow incident. :p[/quote]
Indeed Subway’s supplier has one Hell of a freezer.
Costco is either lying or ignorant.
I saw and purchased US beef at Breeze two weeks ago.[/quote]
Better make sure you cook that beef extra well done, Tigerman.
I went to Breeze yesterday and they no longer have any stock of US Beef. They had a sign up identifying their US beef as “non-Washington state” beef but took the sign down when I inquired about it. They were still selling the stock from before the mad cow scare but have finished off the stock. How long can beef be stored in the freezer anyway?
Got pepperoni on my dominos pizza tonight!
LOL! I didn’t catch that! 
Seriously, guys - Australian beef 
(I’d wave my flag, but I don’t have one, dammit! 
)
DG… I find the overwhelming majority of your posts completely reasonable and objective…
But, with the notion that Aussie beef is good, I must take exception.
DG… I find the overwhelming majority of your posts completely reasonable and objective…
But, with the notion that Aussie beef is good, I must take exception.[/quote]
This probably needs a new topic - but go on, tell me why! I’d be interested - I actually don’t have terribly strong feelings about it, except that when I’ve eaten “USDA beef” I’ve never noticed it tasting particularly good.
All of the Aussie beef I have ever eaten has been extraordinarily tough and chewy and flavorless.
Its true that the quality of USDA beef varies… but, if you’ve ever had good US beef… such as what is served at Muma, Ruth’s Chris (and I guess Lawry’s too… but, I’ve never been there)… I think you will agree that the US produces fine beef.
Have you ever been to any of those places I identified above?
I miss US beef. But one thing confuses me. Why can’t Taiwan produce its own beef? Is the environment simply unsuitable for cows? This is probably a dumb question. Sorry.
[quote=“tigerman”]All of the Aussie beef I have ever eaten has been extraordinarily tough and chewy and flavorless.
Its true that the quality of USDA beef varies… but, if you’ve ever had good US beef… such as what is served at Muma, Ruth’s Chris (and I guess Lawry’s too… but, I’ve never been there)… I think you will agree that the US produces fine beef.
Have you ever been to any of those places I identified above?[/quote]
No - although I really, really want to try Muma’s!
I suppose my corresponding question is - have you ever had prime quality beef in a good restaurant in Australia? Particularly the good stuff that’s been aged, or something from King Island. It’s hard to make a comparison based on simply saying ‘this place does great steak’, since the chefs have a lot to do with it. I guess the only true test is a comparison using the same chef, with high quality beef from each country, and in that case I believe Australian beef would come off very well. I thought perhaps you’d conducted a taste test, or read some reviews, or such
I’ve only had USDA beef in big ‘chain’ stores such as Swensen’s, and it’s always tasted watery and fatty to me. However, I blame that on the chef/quality/cut. I don’t think US beef is necessarily worse, just that I’ve not noticed anything intrinsically special about it.
Interestingly, none of the American steak chains (to my knowledge) operate in Sydney. Morton’s once attempted to open a branch, importing their own USDA beef. I read the news and instantly thought ‘they’re doomed’ - Australians won’t pay that kind of money for imported beef not noticeably (IMO) better than their own. Sure enough, it shut in six months. Not proof of anything, just an interesting anecdote.