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Business View Australia - June 2015 117
United States, because of Australia’s
quarantine restrictions and therefore
they then took the genetics from the
U.S. and imported them into Australia.
The Japanese initially allowed
that export to occur, but through
pressure from their breeders who
wanted to protect and retain the
genetics themselves within Japan,
the government declared the prod-
uct, the Wagyu breed and Wagyu
genetics, to be a national treasure
and so shut down the export mar-
ket for genetics out of Japan.
So the window of opportunity for
these genetics from Japan was only
about four years during the 1990’s.
So during that time the breed has
been grown in Australia and it is up to
the point where it is now clearly rec-
ognised in Australia and international-
ly as the premium brand. So it is inter-
esting that a brand called Wagyu has
emerged so quickly without any major
marketing really, to be the paramount
beef product on the world scene.”
Wagyu beef quickly became pop-
ular and has been adjudged to be
“tender, extremely juicy, with rich
textures and plenty of flavour and a
pleasant lasting taste on the palate”
in the Australian Wagyu Association
– Branded Beef Competition. It has
significant health benefits and con-
tains more conjugated linoleic acid
(CLA)-Omega 6 per gram than any
other foodstuff. The amount of CLA
in Wagyu beef exceeds that in other
beef by 30%. CLA is known to be a
powerful anti-carcinogenic and pos-
sesses anit-inflammatory properties.
The high level of marbling in Wagyu
beef gives it a unique flavour and
taste and is responsible for its health
enhancing properties. Marbling is
the visible form of intramuscular fat
which appears within the muscle and
the extent of marbling is the result
of genetics and nutrition. AUS-MEAT
Limited, an industry owned company,
has developed a grading system to
ensure the standardised measure-
ment of quality. Fullblood Wagyu beef
has the highest marbling scores and
crossbred Wagyu has lower scores.
The Australian Wagyu As-
sociation and its role
The Australian Wagyu Association
was constituted in 1989 with the
purpose of being the official voice of
the Wagyu breed in Australia and rep-
resenting its members. It maintains
a rigorous and comprehensive breed
registry and DNA records with a view
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