Swiss beef, banned by 32 countries after BSE-infected cattle were found in Switzerland, has been given to North Korea as food aid, according to a Western businessman with links to both countries.
Switzerland first offered the beef for relief programmes in Africa but it was rejected by aid agencies, according to a Swiss source.
The curbs imposed on consumption of Swiss beef to prevent the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) - mad cow disease - shut off access to export markets and slaughtered beef was consigned to cold storage.
Later some frozen beef was shipped from Switzerland to Rotterdam and thence to Dalian in China, from where it was transported by rail or ship to North Korea.
The disclosure comes on the heels of publication of new research conducted in Switzerland which, according to New Scientist magazine, found that thousands of cattle previously thought to be healthy may be diseased.
BSE in cattle has been linked a new form of the degenerative brain condition called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, cases of which have so far been concentrated in Britain.