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Japan widens ban on radioactive beef to Miyagi Prefecture

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no immediate health risk

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Japan has no centralized system to test for food safety from radiation

They have one for imported mad cows. And they insist every piece is checked, if it's from a foreign country, that is. I think the centralized system exists. They just don't want to use it on themselves.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

As we know it's not JUST the beef, is it? Everything.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

We aren't buying anything from Fukushima, Miyagi and other nearby areas: the government cannot be trusted and appears to be hopelessly inept when it comes to finding out what is safe and what isn't.

Yet the supermarket here (Sendai) the other day was full of Fukushima vegetables and it was a challenge to find things from out of the area. It's almost like they are trying to force me to eat their contaminated food. They even mixed "kokusan" beef fat in with the Australian beef, so we couldn't buy that either.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Just ban it all from leaving the prefecture, and I mean everything. Now.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

“We preferred domestic beef to foreign beef. Now, my family buys Australian beef.”

Hehe, in Japan, when soft cultural nationalism runs up against safety-shugi, safety-ism wins. I find both trends irritating, so I am simply amused.

"Because Japanese intestines are essentially different from Western ones, Japanese beef is better for Japanese people...errr, except when the beef glows in the dark. Gibu mi Ozzi-gyu!"

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Japan has no centralized system to test for food safety from radiation and has relied on prefectures and municipalities to carry out checks since the March 11 disaster.

So much for the most High Tech industrialized nation in the world, huh? and High Tech on what? Cars and Computers? THEY LACK TOO MUCH OF EVERYTHING ELSE, THEY SEEM TO BE PROUD IN BEING OUTDATED/ARCHAIC/BACKWARD/DRACONIAN AS I HAVE ALWAYS POINTED OUT. Don't they have any SHAME? or moral left? I'm so SICK and tired of this nonsense. This society that lacks COMMON SENSE as a whole, DAMN!!!

No wonder why most foreign persons keep making fun of this country. The mocking is inevitable.

Time to grow up and join the 21 century!!!!

2 ( +8 / -6 )

Let's hear Japanese complain about western beef now like they usually do.

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Why isn't the media covering this greater? I mean no one has said anything about other meats or vegatables, it's like the media wants to keep everyone in a state of panic. JT needs to do their own reporting !

2 ( +3 / -1 )

So is this actually a "ban" or a yet another voluntary code of conduct? Because the farmers don`t honestly seem to be giving a crap what they put into the food chain as long as they get their money.

“We will continue gathering information and conducting surveys as thoroughly as ever from a safety standpoint,”

As thoroughly as ever? Oh, well, that`s reassuring given that you have done such a good job of preventing contaminated food hitting the markets so far.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Japan's ruling class has shown themselves to the world as being first class bungling idiots and evil to boot.

ssway -- correct. Just yesterday the NY Times had a big article about Japanese people flocking to buy gieger counters to measure rediation levels in food because they don't trust their own government. The #1 task for any government is to protect the well-being of its citizens. The J-government, as you and others say, is failing miserably at this task. The folks in the agriculture ministry in particular should all be tossed out on their fat butts.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

@Osakadaz Watched that yesterday. The poor man was almost in tears. He spoke so clearly and honestly. I confess I was almost in tears too.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@Osakadaz.

I also watched this powerful video of Kodama-san speaking. I sincerely hope this video gets shown on the news but we know it will not. Secondly, I hope this gets subbed to English and other languages so others in the world can understand what he said.

@herefornow.

The people of Japan need to take the ruling class out of their seat of power (put them in the reactors). This really is a call for a Japanese revolution. I am not kidding. The ruling class are corrupt beyond belief, incompetent and openly evil. No mercy can be shown for all ruling class. All.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@TimeiClic. Agreed 100%. I decided to leave Japan all together in the first week because I KNEW this was going to happen. I told my Japanese wife, in-laws Japanese coworkers and friends (even gaijin friends). They all thought I was talking crazy. The gaijin friends were a little more in agreement with me.

Low and behold it has been happening at all levels much worse than even I imagined. I am in shock at the degree of incompetence or willful wrong doing that has happened.

To everyone. I must say I am extremely worried for the future of Japan as a whole. How do you all feel this will turn out in the long run? Where will Japan be in 10-20 years? Will there be cancer cases through the roof? Will Tokyo be contaminated and kaput? Will Japan decentralize the nation southward or is this it for the country and they will retreat into isolation as in the past?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

@ Farmboy

International Medcom [ High-Quality Radiation Detection Instruments ], Has Handheld Surface Contamination Meter $675 USD and the External Probe Surface Contamination Monitor $875USD

Checkout the specs. http://www.medcom.com/exp.htm

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I will add that I left Japan for two reasons:

1) I was, as we are were/are, what would happen at the Daiichi site itself and concerned about greater airborne releases and my firm belief that the information being given to the public was false.

2) I knew that the Japanese government would allow the sale of contaminated food to the public.

For this I do not imagine I will ever return to Japan as we will likely never know the extent of the contamination as it would be far too damaging to Japan's economy. Sadly we are seeing first hand that the economy is far more important than the lives of the wonder people of Japan. These are bizarre times we are living in and we are ruled by evil people.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Japan has no centralized system to test for food safety from radiation and has relied on prefectures and municipalities to carry out checks since the March 11 disaster

How long will it take for them to understand that THIS is the root of the problem? If they would only introduce systematic, blanket testing, they would avoid consumer confidence falling through the floor, they would avoid so much of the distrust the public has in the government's ability to look after the people, they would have better PR through not being behind the game all the time... Delegating checks to prefectures may seem logical and efficient, but not when those prefectures have a vested interest in maintaining their local economies.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

sf2k: "where is the compensation package for the farmers and ranchers?"

Had their animals been slaughtered right out and/or they not be allowed to buy the cheap, radioactive straw or their cattle to be shipped I would say they definitely deserve compensation. If they knowingly fed the cheap feed to the cattle and then sold them off I'd say they deserve jail time -- that, or the local government does for letting them ship the cattle.

This whole, "there's a ban on such products, but it's VOLUNTARY" crap is for the birds, and the government needs to get off it's hands and make a centralized system.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

and what about those Hot Spots around the country, the last information on the subject I watched was that J Govt, did not trace the radiation as an ongoing event at all. Professionals and Educationer have done some tracking and found some Hot Spots. But really that's not enough, the weather service should have been involved, satellites should have been utilized anything and everything should have been used. What you don't know Can hurt you, I don't understand ignorance is bliss because it's not bliss.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I meant Educators.

This is the documentary that I watched [http://bit.ly/mTiWOZ]

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@ YongYang

Exactly, it is everything.

I would buy imported soap too myself. Humans are porous and what goes onto the skin goes into the blood stream. That's why it's best to make your own products or to buy them from a good company who uses natural whole ingredients in their formulas.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I left Tokyo on 3/14 as I knew how this would unfold. I remained in Kyushu for another 2 weeks. I kept hearing the words "no immediate health risk" on TV. This when I knew 100% that I had to leave Japan.

What is happening in Japan in an untold nightmare. The people running the show (J goverment, TEPCO, Japanese new media, etc) should ALL be put in prison with real full life terms (I would not be against torture in this case). They are killing their own country.

The beef should not have been shipped from day 1. The entire area should be under FULL strict quarantine. Japan's ruling class has shown themselves to the world as being first class bungling idiots and evil to boot. I am ashamed, truly ashamed.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

@Osakadaz - I'm sure it would be helpful to many if you or someone else could provide a quick summary of what he says.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Come on, we all KNEW this was going to be the case as soon as that Tsunami hit.

When, in any of your dealings with the Japanese, when they are in any position of authority, have they EVER been 100% honest with you? For me, NEVER. There is always some little twisty angle, or some mild manipulation designed to squeeze a bit more out of a person, and this is in all areas of Japanese society. In a weird way, all this madness that is happening at the moment is almost a blessing in disguise, as people will finally start listening to what we have been telling them for decades about the Japanese.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

They should have assigned someone from the SDF and given him wide reaching powers, and also given him total responsibility. If someone was in total control they would have ordered the army to not let cows etc out of the area. I also read where in the case of Chernobyl they shifted hundreds of thousands of kids out of there in a short time.

Or someone has to be responsible. As usual in Japanese nobody knows who is responsible and who to blame.

Just shows how dishonest people are. Latest thing I saw on TV was geiger counters which had "Government approved" stamped. But, they weren't actually govt approved. So....if you are worried about stuff, just remember to check everything. It's sad, but for all Japanese go on about Chinese, this country is full of liars - from the farmers, to the nuclear power plant operators, to the guy selling food, to the man selling you a geiger counter so you can protect your kids. This is going to go down as japan's "unfinest hour".

1 ( +2 / -1 )

http://www.japanprobe.com/2011/07/23/radioactive-beef-in-japan-should-you-be-scared/

I don't trust the Japanese government on this, but neither do I trust JT posters who claim that everyone in Japan will die from cancer. Read this article and judge for yourself.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

.../radioactive-beef-in-japan-should-you-be-scared/ Read this article and judge for yourself.

Another simplistic analysis that underestimates the threat. Why? Because internal exposure is more dangerous than external exposure, as the radiation is as close to your cells as it can possibly be.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

This is what I was afraid of, no immediate health risks makes thing sound like it's okay to eat contaminated foodstuff because looking at the foodstuff the contamination is not visible and the elderly may buy it more so than anyone else.

Yeah, and there's very little health risk to the elderly so it makes sense, ne? It is OK for them.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Taking a step back and looking at the situation in Japan. Is Japan Governed by Suicidal Cult Leaders or something? I mean with all this mass poisoning of the population that's been going on for months and the ignoring the radiation dispersal of Daiichi not bothering to track it to penpoint where radiation fallout may be most damaging. Daiichi is not classified as an immediate threat, floods are obviously an immediate threat. But so is Daiichi, this NPP is effecting the whole country, because J Govt is not taking steps to Not let Daiichi effect the whole country. Spread the poison, mass contamination and dribble out the truth slowly has been the J Govt's answer to Daiichi.

Japan as a whole is made up of the sum of it's parts, that includes the population a healthy population makes a healthy nation.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@hoipolloi:

My wife and child joined me of course. But her family (parents and siblings) stayed behind in Tokyo and Kyushu. Very hard decisions for us all to make. I offered for them to come but it was unthinkable for them to leave their homeland and I could do no more but to protect my immediate family in such case.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Scary Kokusan bi-fu.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

"Japan has no centralized system to test for food safety from radiation and has relied on prefectures and municipalities to carry out checks since the March 11 disaster."

The central government ALWAYS relies on the local and prefectural governments to things out after making some vague laws or suggestions. That's been a big problem here in MANY facets of life. Anyway, once again we're seeing, too late, the area of things being banned expanding. It's a shame it took nearly five months when others were calling for this kind of thing to be done pretty much immediately after the disaster. What a brainless government, and shame on the local governments as well for merely looking out for their own interests and cutting corners. I can understand not wanting to upset your constituents, but when it comes to the health and well being of others...

0 ( +2 / -2 )

How about fish? I see fisherman on television proud that they have slowly started to recover and get some boats out into the contaminated sea. A central monitoring body should of been set up immediately after the meltdown. Oh I forgot to say "independent"...

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Japan to buy up and burn radiation-tainted beef

JT article July 26, 2011, I had to reread it.

Excerpt:

In the widening scandal, it has since emerged that many more farmers in Fukushima and other prefectures have shipped cattle to meat-processing factories without realizing their beef may be tainted.

Last week Fukushima Beef was Banned it says in the article, but I thought all the Tainted beef was being bought up and disposed of.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

You can keep tabs on all of the 'Radioactive foods stories' here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Radioactive-Food-Awarness-Japan/235139963187578?sk=wall

You can post useful info and links and answer questions about everyone's fears and concerns.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

ssway:

Did your wife or any of your family members in Japan join you when you left Japan or did you leave by yourself?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Skeptical Hippo; come on, you know the generic term for money is 'dollars' now, don't you?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

"radioactive" beef is going for 500yen/kilo atm. People are lining up by the hundreds to get their hands on it. Veggies too... Fill a plastic bag with as much as you can - 100yen. On tv now channel 4

This is what I was afraid of, no immediate health risks makes thing sound like it's okay to eat contaminated foodstuff because looking at the foodstuff the contamination is not visible and the elderly may buy it more so than anyone else.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

People are expendable, the economy is not. We are just another resource that will be used until we dry up. If we die early, it makes no difference because there will be someone to take our place (our children). One of the reasons they dont evacuate is, if they do, nobody will be around to pay for the clean up. There is only one Japanese economy and there are many, many expendable sheeple.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I thought J Govt was going to buy the beef through a private-sector body. Why is it even on the market, if it over the government limit of 500 becquerels.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

It seems J Govt = Organized Crime.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

where is the compensation package for the farmers and ranchers?

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

"radioactive" beef is going for 500yen/kilo atm. People are lining up by the hundreds to get their hands on it. Veggies too... Fill a plastic bag with as much as you can - 100yen. On tv now channel 4

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

@bicultural I don't believe that everyone in Japan will die from cancer but I hope you're not still swallowing that line that compares consuming radiation tainted food with the radiation exposure from a one-way flight from Tokyo to New York as in the Japanprobe article.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

So will Japan allow better quality levels of US beef into the country or, as they have done since the 50s, prevent the tastiest US beef from hitting the markets here at reasonable rpices? The yen is high - Amreican beef can be superb if it's the better quality - it has to be an appropriate time for US beef to sell here... will we see that??

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

And just how soon will it be before we begin hearing of widerange deaths caused by contaiminated bef and other foodtsuffs?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

A good friend of mine who is a cancer specialist at Tokyo Uni Hospital tells me the millions of elderly in Japan really don't give a rat's ass if they live two or three years less.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

people trying to make dirty dollars

The Japanese currency is the Yen prounounced 'en'

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

How do you all feel this will turn out in the long run?

daijoubu, daijobu

Where will Japan be in 10-20 years?

In the Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south.

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

So is this actually a "ban" or a yet another voluntary code of conduct? Because the farmers don`t honestly seem to be giving a crap what they put into the food chain as long as they get their money.

As thoroughly as ever? Oh, well, that`s reassuring given that you have done such a good job of preventing contaminated food hitting the markets so far.

大丈夫、大丈夫。You're still here so it must be okay. You wouldn't willingly put the health of your THREE kids at risk. That's how I know it's all still 大丈夫、大丈夫

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

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