March 31, 2011
 

Japanese cows kept indoors due to radiation

Japan has asked farmers to let their cows and cattle stay in the barns as radioactive contamination of milk spread from Fukushima prefecture.

"To prevent milk contamination, we are advising farmers that cows should be barred from grazing, kept inside barns and fed with grass harvested before the nuclear plant accident," said Mitsuhiro Honda at the milk and dairy products division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. "We are not concerned about the safety of beef as the meat now on the market came from animals born more than two years ago." Japan has restricted raw-milk shipments from Fukushima and neighboring Ibaraki prefecture after tainted products were discovered through random testing.

"We do not see eggs and pork at high risk of radioactive contamination because chickens and pigs are raised within facilities that shield them from the air and rain," said Takenobu Aida at the ministry's livestock production and feed divisions. "The products should be safe if animals are fed with uncontaminated feed and water."

The health ministry asked each prefectural governor last week to start testing agricultural and marine food products for possible contamination, as the nation struggles to stem pollution from the Fukushima plant.