Food writer says all Kobe beef in the US is a tasty scam

A scathing editorial in Forbes magazine has disappointed natural-food lovers and galvanized activists with its assertion that Kobe beef in America is a scam. Author Larry Olmsted says the beloved and high-priced beef is a hoax, dubbing it the "great Kobe beef lie." He points out that the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn't approve any slaughterhouses for export in the Kobe region of Japan, which means the only genuine Kobe beef that could possibly be in the U.S. has been smuggled in aboard someone's suitcase. Any restaurateur who claims otherwise is either ill-informed or blatantly lying, he says. He also points to poor naming regulations, effectively making "Kobe" a meaningless adjective in this country -- meaning if you want real Kobe beef, you have to go to Asia.