Miyagi beef cattle shipments barred – Iwate may face similar ban amid radiation spread
By MASAMI ITO, Staff writer
28 July 2011 The government ordered a complete ban Thursday on all shipments of beef cattle from Miyagi Prefecture after detecting radioactive cesium above the government limit in some local cattle. The government is also considering placing a similar ban on beef cattle from Iwate Prefecture, where five cattle from Ichinoseki and Fujisawa have already been found contaminated with radioactive cesium exceeding the limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram. That decision is expected to come next week, sources said. The discovery of beef cattle from various prefectures in northeastern Japan with elevated levels of radioactive cesium has caused widespread concern. The cattle were fed straw contaminated by fallout from the crippled and leaking Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. Miyagi is the second prefecture after Fukushima to be given orders to suspend shipments of beef but likely won’t be the last. […] Four of the six Miyagi Prefecture cattle are from Kurihara, and one each from Kakuda and Zao. The farmers who shipped the six contaminated cattle and others who fed their cattle contaminated straw will be obliged to hold blanket tests on all of their slaughtered beef. Other farmers will be required to test one cow on each ranch. About 30,000 beef cattle are shipped annually from Miyagi Prefecture. […] Edano added that the government would try to provide “appropriate compensation” to the farmers for the damages. […]
