Rice grown on five additional farms in the Onami district of Fukushima city contained levels of radioactive cesium exceeding government standards, Fukushima prefectural government officials said Nov. 25.
Rice grown on five additional farms in the Onami district of Fukushima city contained levels of radioactive cesium exceeding government standards, Fukushima prefectural government officials said Nov. 25.The prefectural government has been testing all bags of rice originating from Onami after the discovery earlier this month that rice from one farm had cesium levels of 630 becquerels per kilogram, above the standard of 500 becquerels set by the central government.According to prefectural government officials, 864 bags of rice grown on 34 farms were tested, and 131 bags from six farms were found to have cesium levels exceeding the standard. The farm where the first contaminated rice was found is included in that number.The highest level of cesium detected was 1,270 becquerels. Twenty-seven bags from two farms had cesium levels exceeding 1,000 becquerels.The prefectural government plans to check all 4,752 bags of rice, totaling 142.6 tons, shipped from all 154 rice farms in the Onami district. The rice has been stored at the farms, homes of farmers' relatives and at the warehouse of the local farm cooperative. Even rice sold to retailers has been recalled, and none has reached consumers, the prefectural government officials confirmed.Samples of rice were collected from the 34 farms by Nov. 24. Six of the farms, including the one where the first contaminated rice was found earlier this month, were found to have rice with cesium above the government standard. Three of those farms had cesium levels exceeding the standard in all samples tested.The five farms that had rice above the standard were all located within a radius of between 1 and 2.5 kilometers from the first farm."It is very regrettable that there are several farms where the standards were exceeded," a prefectural government official said. "We have to accept these results in a serious manner."The official said rice sold to the public all come from areas where the rice is safe, emphasizing that the latest results should not cast doubt on all Fukushima rice.