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[torrefaction]

Originally Posted by J Arcane

Technically correct (Kobe is the home province of the wagyu technique of cattle rearing) but it doesn't matter, because neither the US or Japan have anything like a 'protected designation of origin', and also there's no such thing as wagyu beef outside of Japan anyway.

Japan doesn't export wagyu beef. Generally speaking, anything you buy that says either 'wagyu' or 'Kobe' in the US is just beef, maybe some very nice beef, and maybe even raised to something some American farmer thinks is vaguely similar to traditional Kobe farming practices, but it's neither Kobe or wagyu or anything in between.

It's a marketing word, and little else. It's not even got the protection of being based on an actual breed of cattle, because Japan doesn't export its cows either.

It's all a big bullshit game, basically. Sort of like how nothing you buy in the fish aisle of the store anymore is actually the fish it says it is.

That last part is all technically untrue, even if a lot of it is practically true. They stopped the export ban sometime last year and a good chunk has gone to Hong Kong since. Less than 400kg has ended up stateside though , according to the wiki.

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[J Arcane]

Originally Posted by torrefaction

That last part is all technically untrue, even if a lot of it is practically true. They stopped the export ban sometime last year and a good chunk has gone to Hong Kong since. Less than 400kg has ended up stateside though , according to the wiki.

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Ahh. I did not know that the ban had been lifted, though I know that even without it there's been minimal interest in exporting much of it historically anyway. Plus, real wagyu is incredibly low yield business anyway.

[Slack3r78]

Originally Posted by J Arcane

Technically correct (Kobe is the home province of the wagyu technique of cattle rearing) but it doesn't matter, because neither the US or Japan have anything like a 'protected designation of origin', and also there's no such thing as wagyu beef outside of Japan anyway.

True Japanese Kobe cattle are assigned individual ID numbers and have to meet certain requirements to be sold under the Kobe name since it's a registered trademark there. In the US it gets used for all sorts of things that aren't actually Kobe beef.

Originally Posted by J Arcane

And the term "Kobe beef" itself is essentially a protracted fraud of the beef industry.

Still not as amusing as the concerted effort to turn Angus into a premium brand in the US. It's the most common breed of cattle in the US and constitutes a majority of US beef.