Cesium-contaminated beef from a farm in Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, made its way to dining tables in eight prefectures and was consumed, the Tokyo metropolitan government said on July 13.
Cesium-contaminated beef from a farm in Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, made its way to dining tables in eight prefectures and was consumed, the Tokyo metropolitan government said on July 13.
The contaminated beef came from six cows shipped to market from the same farm that was earlier found to have had 11 radiation-contaminated cows whose meat was not shipped to market.
The meat from the six cows was distributed to 12 prefectures. Authorities estimate that 373 kilograms of the beef, one-fourth the total weight, was sold to consumers for consumption in eight prefectures.
Four of the six cows' meat was found to contain 1,998 to 3,400 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram, about four to seven times the safety standard of 500 becquerels per kilogram.
Samples of meat from the remaining two cows were undergoing radiation checks on July 13.
According to the government, the beef was sold at butcher shops or served at restaurants in the prefectures of Hokkaido, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, Osaka, Tokushima and Kochi. By weight, 95.8 kg were consumed in Sagamihara and 73 kg in Fujisawa, both in Kanagawa Prefecture; and 44.4 kg in Tama, 38.8 kg in Itabashi Ward and 17.7 kg in Arakawa Ward, all in Tokyo.
However, the shipment routes for the organ meats from the six cows, such as liver and intestines, was difficult to trace because identification numbers are not required for organs under laws on beef traceability.
The beef was distributed through wholesalers at the Tokyo meat market to buyers in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Osaka and Ehime prefectures. The meat was then sold to retailers in Hokkaido, Akita, Chiba, Aichi, Hyogo, Tokushima and Kochi prefectures.
All the beef that remained unsold was sent to relevant authorities or stored in a safe place.
On July 8 to 9, meat from 11 cows from the same farm that had not yet been distributed was found contaminated with cesium above the safety standard as a result of radiation scattered from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.