Beef Contamination Spreads in Japan After Fukushima Radiation Taints Straw

"More beef from cattle in Japan that ate straw tainted by radiation has found its way into the food supply, deepening concern about the safety of meat as the country struggles to contain the spread of the contamination.

"Cattle at the farm in Asakawa, about 60 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear station, were fed with rice straw containing 97,000 becquerels of cesium per kilogram, compared with the government standard of 300 becquerels, said Hidenori Ohtani at the livestock division of the Fukushima prefectural government." Bloomberg

Update on July 21, 2011 by admin

In a companion video report by Bloomberg dated May 2nd ("Japan Ranchers Defy Evacuation as Radiation Threatens"), a beef rancher in the village of Iitate -- 40 km downwind of Fukushima Daiichi -- uses the powerful words "silent sprint" -- à la Rachel Carson -- to describe the ghost town that should have been a bustling farming community because of the large-scale evacuation due to high levels of radioactive fallout. The farmer's own son, who was going to take over the farm, was among those who evacuated.