Meat of 6 cows fed radioactive straw reaches 11 prefectures
Jul. 13, 2011
The meat of six cows shipped from a Fukushima Prefecture farm at the heart of growing concerns over beef containing traces of radioactive cesium has been distributed to at least 11 prefectures, including Tokyo, with some of it already eaten, officials of prefectural governments said Tuesday.
The cows ate the same straw at the farm in Minamisoma, a city near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, as another 11 cows that were shipped to a Tokyo meatpacking plant from the farm and whose meat was found to have contained three to six times the allowable level of the cesium.
Government officials have said that eating small amounts of the beef will not harm human health, but observers said fears about beef consumption will spread further across the country.
Publicizing the identification numbers of the six cows, the Tokyo metropolitan government said it has nearly completed tracing where three of the six cows were shipped, adding it will continue efforts to clarify the distribution channels of the remaining three.
Cows at the Minamisoma farm are believed to have suffered internal radiation exposure because they were fed straw that contained radioactive cesium at levels far above the allowable limit, probably because it had been kept outdoors.
The farm shipped the six cows between May and June, according to the Tokyo metropolitan government.
One cow was shipped from early June through the end of the month to nine dealers in four prefectures -- Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka and Ehime. Its beef was then distributed to retailers and restaurants in Hokkaido, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, Tokushima and Kochi prefectures, and part of it was consumed, local governments said.
Two cows were sold to two dealers in Tokyo and Osaka prefectures at the end of June and the beginning of July, but none of the beef was distributed to the public.
The remaining three cows were sold to three dealers in Tokyo, Kanagawa and Osaka prefectures. While some of the beef was retained by the dealers, local authorities said they have been investigating where the rest of it has been distributed.
Beef contaminated with radioactive cesium was also found to have been shipped to Akita and Chiba prefectures, local governments said later in the day.
Excessive levels of radioactive cesium were detected in the distributed beef kept at a restaurant in the city of Shizuoka and at a wholesaler in Tokyo, according to the officials.
Some of the beef from the cows was served to customers at a Korean-style barbeque restaurant in Aichi after it was shipped there on July 2, according to the prefectural government. The beef had also been served at a restaurant in Chitose, Hokkaido, the Hokkaido government said.
The beef shipped to Ehime was not sold within the prefecture but was distributed to retail stores in Tokushima and Kochi, where it has already been sold, according to the officials.
Goshi Hosono, minister in charge of food safety and the ongoing nuclear crisis, sought to reassure the public, saying at a news conference, ''Eating part of it in small amounts will not have a large impact on your health.''
To counter a possible public backlash against all beef from Fukushima Prefecture, farm minister Michihiko Kano said the central government will work with the prefectural government in inspecting meat from cows at all of the around 260 cattle-raising farms in areas that are subject to resident evacuations to varying degrees.
On Monday, the Fukushima prefectural government began on-site inspections at farms in connection with the shipment case.
The beef from the 11 cows processed at the Tokyo plant has been found to contain excessive levels of radioactive cesium and was not shipped to markets.
The straw at the farm in question contained radioactive cesium around 56 times the allowable limit. It had been stored in an unroofed area of the farm when a series of explosions occurred at the power plant shortly after the earthquake and tsunami in March.
Amid growing concern, the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture said it had decided to refrain from using beef in school lunches served at its 344 public elementary schools until the summer vacation begins.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on July 12, 2011)
The cows ate the same straw at the farm in Minamisoma, a city near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, as another 11 cows that were shipped to a Tokyo meatpacking plant from the farm and whose meat was found to have contained three to six times the allowable level of the cesium.
Government officials have said that eating small amounts of the beef will not harm human health, but observers said fears about beef consumption will spread further across the country.
Publicizing the identification numbers of the six cows, the Tokyo metropolitan government said it has nearly completed tracing where three of the six cows were shipped, adding it will continue efforts to clarify the distribution channels of the remaining three.
Cows at the Minamisoma farm are believed to have suffered internal radiation exposure because they were fed straw that contained radioactive cesium at levels far above the allowable limit, probably because it had been kept outdoors.
The farm shipped the six cows between May and June, according to the Tokyo metropolitan government.
One cow was shipped from early June through the end of the month to nine dealers in four prefectures -- Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka and Ehime. Its beef was then distributed to retailers and restaurants in Hokkaido, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, Tokushima and Kochi prefectures, and part of it was consumed, local governments said.
Two cows were sold to two dealers in Tokyo and Osaka prefectures at the end of June and the beginning of July, but none of the beef was distributed to the public.
The remaining three cows were sold to three dealers in Tokyo, Kanagawa and Osaka prefectures. While some of the beef was retained by the dealers, local authorities said they have been investigating where the rest of it has been distributed.
Beef contaminated with radioactive cesium was also found to have been shipped to Akita and Chiba prefectures, local governments said later in the day.
Excessive levels of radioactive cesium were detected in the distributed beef kept at a restaurant in the city of Shizuoka and at a wholesaler in Tokyo, according to the officials.
Some of the beef from the cows was served to customers at a Korean-style barbeque restaurant in Aichi after it was shipped there on July 2, according to the prefectural government. The beef had also been served at a restaurant in Chitose, Hokkaido, the Hokkaido government said.
The beef shipped to Ehime was not sold within the prefecture but was distributed to retail stores in Tokushima and Kochi, where it has already been sold, according to the officials.
Goshi Hosono, minister in charge of food safety and the ongoing nuclear crisis, sought to reassure the public, saying at a news conference, ''Eating part of it in small amounts will not have a large impact on your health.''
To counter a possible public backlash against all beef from Fukushima Prefecture, farm minister Michihiko Kano said the central government will work with the prefectural government in inspecting meat from cows at all of the around 260 cattle-raising farms in areas that are subject to resident evacuations to varying degrees.
On Monday, the Fukushima prefectural government began on-site inspections at farms in connection with the shipment case.
The beef from the 11 cows processed at the Tokyo plant has been found to contain excessive levels of radioactive cesium and was not shipped to markets.
The straw at the farm in question contained radioactive cesium around 56 times the allowable limit. It had been stored in an unroofed area of the farm when a series of explosions occurred at the power plant shortly after the earthquake and tsunami in March.
Amid growing concern, the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture said it had decided to refrain from using beef in school lunches served at its 344 public elementary schools until the summer vacation begins.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on July 12, 2011)
