– Radioactive Cesium from World-Famous Super Premium Matsusaka Beef (EX-SKF, July 21, 2011):
The Matsusaka cows ate the rice hay from Miyagi Prefecture that was contaminated with radioactive cesium far exceeding the provisional safety limit for the cattle feed (300 becquerels/kg).
Matsusaka beef is from cows grown exclusively in Matsusaka in Mie Prefecture, and it commands high premium for its marvelous taste and texture due to high fat content rivaling Kobe beef, or so I hear. I’ve never eaten any of the premium “wagyu” Japanese beef in my life because they are so expensive. Maybe now there’s a chance to get them at a reasonable price, if I don’t mind cesium.
From NHK Japanese (1:16PM JST 7/22/2011):
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Radioactive cesium 20 times the safety limit for the feed [300 becquerels/kg] has been detected from the rice hay at a cattle farm that raises Matsusaka-ushi (cow) in Mie Prefecture. Of all the cows that have already been shipped, 11 of them did not have radioactive cesium that exceeded the provisional safety limit for the meat [500 becquerels/kg]. Mie Prefecture is tracing the shipment of the rest of the cows.
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According to Mie Prefecture, radioactive cesium was detected from the rice hay kept at a cattle farm in Taiki-cho in Mie Prefecture. The rice hay included the hay harvested in Tome City in Miyagi Prefecture and shipped to the farm after the nuclear plant accident on March 11. The level of cesium was 20 times the safety limit set by the national government for the feed. 70 cows have been shipped from this farm. Radioactive cesium in the meat of 11 of them did not exceed the provisional safety limit [500 becquerels/kg], with maximum of about one-fifth of the safety limit [i.e. 100 becquerels/kg]. Mie Prefecture says “There’s no problem if one eats the meat from these 11 cows.” Mie Prefecture has asked the farm not to feed cows with the remaining rice hay and to stop shipping the cows for now, while it traces the rest of the cows shipped from the farm.