Meat-Counter Confusion in S. Korea

Protesters worried about mad cow disease march in Seoul against U.S. beef imports. After lifting a 41/2-year ban in April, President Lee Myung-bak reinstated restrictions Tuesday. (By Ahn Young-joon -- Associated Press)

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"It's softer and it melts in your mouth," she said. But she wasn't buying any and her family doesn't eat much beef anymore. "Too expensive," she explained.

Not everyone in the E-Mart was happy not to be able to buy U.S. beef.

"This whole issue is not about food killing you," said Young Sook, 51, a housewife who said she studied microbiology in college. "It's about politics. It's about people who are angry at President Lee for arbitrarily deciding to lift the beef ban without consulting the public."

She said she ate U.S. beef before the ban and would eat it again -- if it ever returns.

"I have lived in the States," she said. "I don't think the American government is stupid enough to sell food that will kill you."

Finding Korean beef to be overpriced, she bought chicken.

"I have never stopped buying chicken, bird flu or not," she said. "It is safe if you cook it."

Special correspondent Stella Kim contributed to this report.