A group of South Korean officials, scholars and civic activists left for the United States Monday to look into the latest outbreak of mad cow disease amid growing food safety concerns at home.

The nine-member team, led by an official at South Korea's Animal, Plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency, is on a 10-day trip involving a visit to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The delegates might not be able to visit a California farm where the latest case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), was found, because the farm has yet to approve such a visit, the agency said in a statement.

The trip comes after a California dairy cow was found contracting BSE, prompting calls on the government to immediately suspend U.S. beef imports.

The government refused to suspend quarantine checks, saying the California dairy cow was 10 years and seven months old and did not enter the food chain.

South Korea currently imports beef from cattle less than 30 months old with all specified risk materials (SRMs), known to transmit mad cow disease, removed.

The apparent inaction triggered criticism that the government is not delivering on its promise that it will suspend imports in case an outbreak of mad cow disease puts public health at risk here.

Progressive civic groups are planning to hold a rally in central Seoul Wednesday to protest the government inaction.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet