July 18, 2011
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Japan plans to suspend Fukushima's beef shipments
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The Japanese government is set to suspend all cattle shipments from Fukushima as concerns over radiation-tainted beef escalate.
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Senior Vice Health Minister, Kohei Otsuka, said beef from surrounding areas may also be affected. The ban comes after 136 cows were found to have consumed feed affected by radioactive cesium.
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This is the latest health scare connected to the Fukushima Daiichi power plant damaged by the earthquake.
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"The most likely outcome is that we will ban beef shipments," said Goshi Hosono, the cabinet minister responsible for the nuclear cleanup. "We have to ensure food safety."
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Increasing numbers of cows have been found to have consumed rice straw containing high levels of radioactive cesium.
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The straw was harvested from rice paddies in Fukushima prefecture after a devastating earthquake and tsunami triggered a radiation leak at the local power plant.
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Distributors across the country have bought meat from exposed cows and some of it could have already reached consumers.
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A major supermarket chain Aeon said that hundreds of kilogrammes of the beef has been sold at 14 of its stores in Tokyo and the surrounding areas.
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The retailer said it would start to check beef shipments from all areas for contamination. The government has also acknowledged that the problem could be wider than just Fukushima.
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The initial discovery of contaminated beef was traced back to farms near the Fukushima power plant, but more recent discoveries are from farms as far as 100 kilometres away.
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However, farm ministry officials said that consuming the beef a few times would not pose a health risk, despite radiation levels several times the national limit.
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Shipments of certain vegetables from areas near the plant had already been halted due to high inflation levels.