Hundreds of carnivores flock to the International Beef Noodle Festival in Taipei to enjoy one of Taiwan's most popular dishes.

But this year the government hopes the annual event will beef up sales of imported meat from the U.S.

A six-year ban on American bone-in beef has ended but public and local authority fears about its safety haven't.

Taipei's mayor announced that all beef products will be labelled to identify its origin and the sale of U.S. offal, ground beef and spinal cords will be banned.

[Hau Lung-Bin, Taipei City Mayor]:
"We know people are worried about beef's safety. There's a group of people in Taipei who are insecure about imported beef. So we put labels showing the source of the beef that we are using. We want customers to feel safe when they consume beef."

Despite these measures, restaurants say their business is suffering.

[Owner, Beef Noodle Shop]:
"Our business has been reduced 30 to 40 percent because of the storm of U.S. beef. We are using local beef or Australian beef, we are not going to use U.S. beef marrow, intestines and other parts. We are using Australian tendon or Taiwan beef."

The initial import ban on American beef was imposed in 2003 in response to the discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S.

As other markets reopened in recent years, Washington has repeatedly urged Taiwan to follow suit.

Taiwan hopes the removal of the ban will improve relations with Washington but sales are unlikely to improve until the public sees it the same way.