The government banned beef cattle shipments from Fukushima Prefecture on Tuesday, more than a week after meat from the prefecture showed high levels of radioactive cesium, including some already sold and consumed.
Alarm has spread nationwide over the estimated 650 cows from Fukushima, Niigata and Yamagata prefectures that have been shipped throughout Japan after being fed straw contaminated by the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which has been spewing radioactive material since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The government did not include Niigata or Yamagata in the ban because no cesium had been found in their beef.
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