A MEATY issue is gripping the city.

Consumers were warned to be careful when ordering Kobe beef at restaurants and hotels as China has stopped imports of Japanese beef since 2001 due to mad cow disease.

They are cheating consumers with beef from other places, the Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said yesterday. Either that or they have an illegal source of legitimate Kobe beef.

Kobe beef is popular at some high-end Japanese restaurants and hotels as it is extremely tender and tastes better than normal beef. It usually sells at about 300 yuan (US$37) per dish.

The bureau confiscated more than 2,000 kilograms of beef from a wet market last week on Tongchuan Road, Putuo District. The beef was allegedly from Japan, Canada or the United States, said Fang Yong, an official with the bureau's information office. All three countries are still on the state quarantine authority's ban list for beef imports - all due to cases of mad cow disease.

The information official said most Japanese beef in the city's restaurants is from China. But he said it is difficult to test its true origins.

No details were disclosed about any punishment of vendors, or any further operation taken against restaurants.

Meanwhile, several restaurants contacted yesterday by Shanghai Daily, as a customer, said the delicacy is on the menu and sell it at up to 1,000 yuan a piece.

A receptionist at Ambrosia, a Japanese restaurant on Fenyang Road, said they serve Kobe beef. But she was vague when it came to the source, saying it "might" come from Australia or Japan.

Another receptionist at Kakatei, a Japanese restaurant on Huaihai Road M., said they also serve Kobe beef from Japan. However, after a Shanghai Daily reporter identified himself, a Kakatei official surnamed Zhu denied it served authentic Kobe beef.

According to Zhu, the dish is named Kobe beef but it's not from Japan. She did not say where the beef is from.

Meanwhile, a statement by the state quality and quarantine bureau on Friday said quarantine officials around the nation have seized Japanese beef from the luggage of people from Japan since the import ban in 2001.