Japan: contaminated beef with radioactive cesium distributed and consumed in 11 prefectures

2011-07-13 07:19:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

TOKYO (BNO NEWS) -- Contaminated meat with radioactive cesium was found to have been distributed to at least 11 prefectures throughout Japan, of which some has already been eaten, officials told Kyodo news agency Tuesday.

Even though government officials have stated that consuming small amounts of the contaminated beef would not harm human health, Japan's nuclear crisis has continued to worsen and growing concerns are further spreading, as nationals fear immediate and long-term impacts.

Among the 11 prefectures to which the meat of the six contaminated cows was shipped from the Fukushima Prefecture farm are Tokyo, Shizuoka, Osaka, Kanagawa and Ehime prefectures, as well as Hokkaido, Aichi, Tokushima and Kochi. Officials have confirmed that some of it had already been eaten in restaurants and sold in supermarkets.

On Monday, high levels of radioactive cesium were detected in straw fed to cattle at a farm in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture with an average of 75,000 becquerels of the radioactive isotope per kilogram (2.25 pounds), which is about 56 times the allowable limit.

According to officials, the contaminated straw was stored in an exposed area of the farm without roofs during the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that caused a series of explosions that crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Furthermore, the farm is located in one of the high-risk areas of the region, and officials suspect the straw could be the radioactive source of contaminated beef that had been detected in meat shipped from that area.

Since April, the farm had been feeding its cows each day about 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of straw, which had been kept outdoors since its paddy was cut last fall. They were also drinking from water located in an exposed well.

The contaminated meat of eleven cows was detected in Tokyo, where the meat was shipped for processing. However, at the time of the shipment, the cow carcasses showed no radioactive substances. On Sunday, officials visited the farm, took samples from its facilities to carry out analysis, and spoke with personnel to determine how the cows are managed in order to establish the possible source of their contamination.

Last week, the government of Japan announced that nationwide stress tests would be conducted on all of its nuclear reactors to assess the country's nuclear safety, as many of Japan's operation of reactors are currently suspended until regular checkups are completed.

Japan has been facing an ongoing nuclear crisis since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was severely damaged on March 11 when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a subsequent tsunami devastated the country. The disaster disabled the cooling systems of the plant, and radioactive elements leaked into the sea and were later found in water, air and food products in some parts of Japan. Subsequent power shortages throughout the country have further complicated recovery efforts.

At least 23,482 people were killed, while 8,069 people remain missing. There are still more than 88,000 people who are staying in shelters in 21 prefectures around Japan.

According to the Japan Research Institute, the country's reconstruction efforts will cost between 14 trillion yen ($174.58 billion) and 18 trillion yen ($224.46 billion) in the upcoming 10 years, including 9.1 trillion yen ($113.47 billion) this year alone. Japan has already allocated a 4 trillion yen ($48.89 billion) emergency budget to finance the early phase of reconstruction efforts following the disaster.

On June 23, the government also announced a budget of 2 trillion yen ($24.8 billion) to be distributed to cover the massive compensation claims since the beginning of the disaster being faced by the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-07-13

On June 23, the government also announced a budget of 2 trillion yen ($24.8 billion) to be distributed to cover the massive compensation claims since the beginning of the disaster being faced by the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The costs of the Fukushima problems will be ongoing, in the tens of billions of $$'s bracket. It is not just economic dollar/yen costs, but costs in health losses and costs in the lowering of Japanese peoples' self image. They've suffered through Hiroshima/Nagasaki, .....and now this.

And yet Thailand's EGAT still stands by (until they publicly refute) their multi-million baht report from last year which concludes, "Nuclear power plants for Thailand will be safe, clean, and low cost." So, if you think Japan, with it's respected high-tech culture, has a tough time dealing with nuclear problems, .....wait until Thailand, with it's lower tech standards and lower sense of corporate responsibility - grabs the nuclear tiger by the tail.

Puts the japanese protectionism during the mad cow situation in perspective. Seems to me consumers will be demanding US/Canadian/Australian beef now.

this news just killed the Japanese beef industry I think.

Puts the japanese protectionism during the mad cow situation in perspective. Seems to me consumers will be demanding US/Canadian/Australian beef now.

this news just killed the Japanese beef industry I think.

Yep. Somewhere I read that the J-gov said it was too expensive to test everything... But with mad cow, the demanded that every product was tested before being exported from the USA.

FYI - Many people predicted that this would happen as domestically, Japan does not have a stellar reputation when it comes to food labeling. Typical response from vendors of tainted products will run along the lines of they did not want to disappoint the consumer.

TheWalkingMan