Sitting at tables with built-in grills, leading South Korean doctors and business executives ate U.S. beef on Wednesday in a bid to dispel public health fears.

The 19 physicians and executives ate American sirloin, with one top doctor saying it "tastes good and tender" and telling fellow South Koreans not to worry about getting mad cow disease from eating U.S. beef.

"There is no food whatsoever that we can say is 100 percent safe," said Choo Soo-ho, head of the Korean Medical Association, South Korea's largest doctors' lobby. "But I can say the chance of catching mad cow disease (from eating U.S. beef) is nearly zero percent."

South Korea's agreement in April to resume imports of U.S. beef sparked near-daily street protests over mad cow disease concerns because the deal called for scrapping most restrictions the country had previously maintained over fears of the illness.

Despite repeated government assurances of the safety of U.S. meat, fears have been fanned due to false and sensational media reports along with unsubstantiated rumors posted on the Internet, suggesting the disease can spread through the air.

Fears became so intense that American beef is considered by some Koreans as akin to poison. Local media reported high-school girls crying over mad cow fears.

Unrelenting protests forced South Korea's government to negotiate an amendment to the April deal last month to import only beef from younger cattle considered less at risk of the disease. Still, smaller protests have continued.

U.S. beef went on sale early this month, but is still not widely available because large supermarket chains and restaurants are reluctant to sell or serve it for fear of a public backlash.

Choo said he organized the event with other doctors' and business associations to help people overcome fears of mad cow disease that he said were "not verified and sometimes exaggerated" and are now threatening to hurt the nation's economy.

"I love meat. This tastes good and tender," Choo said, dipping a piece of beef in a small salt dish.

"Eat it without any uneasiness. I can guarantee (the safety) by staking the honor of the Korean Medical Association," Moon Tai-joon, honorary chairman of the doctors' association, told reporters amid a barrage of camera flashes and smokes from the grill at his table. Continued...