Radiation Impact on Kobe Beef from Japan

The tsunami in March 2011 has had a far reaching impact on the food sources in Japan. It is disturbing during the first twenty four hours to hear news reports on how the tsunami was going to impact the sushi and fish that is shipped from Japan to the US. However several weeks later there has started to be great concern about the impact of the radiation leak from Fukushima Daiichi Reactor. Radiation levels are thousands times higher than safe levels in the immediate area. Japan has evacuated everyone within nineteen miles but now radiation levels are high in the ocean water near the reactor and more than fifteen states one either coast of the US have started to report slightly elevated levels of radiation including radiation found in milk.

Kobe Beef High Risk for Radiation

Kobe Beef is at higher risk for radiation along with milk and other dairy items as well as certain fresh produce items. The reason for the risk especially with any product from cows is that the radiation is dispersed through rain and dust and falls on the grass, as the dairy cows or beef cows graze the radiation is picked up and spreads through their muscles and into the milk. Not all milk and not all beef will be impacted at the same level. The proximity of the farm to the Fukushima reactors will determine the level of exposure to radiation unless their are significant storms the disperse the radiation around the country.

Kobe Beef Price Hike

The impact of transportation interuption following the tsunami and the loss of production as well as the radiation will spike the price of Kobe Beef immediately. Kobe Beef by nature is high priced as anyone who has bought a kobe beef burger knows. However the price of Kobe Beef will sky rocket throughout the rest of 2011.

Kobe Beef Price

Kobe Beef Taste Testing

Kobe Beer Uniqueness

Kobe Beef is a rare form of beef from Japan.  Although America has made a name for corn fed beef and grass fed beef that have tremendous flavor, there is nothing compares to the incredible flavor and tenderness of Kobe Beef.  Kobe Beef are cows that are carefully chosen as calves and then raised almost in a nanny state of constant care and nurture.  These small calves are fed a precise diet that is designed to give them maximum health with ideal amount of fat which is where the best flavor is found in the highest quality cuts of beef.    The cows at an age when they are nearing the ideal weight for turning into beef are given massages to keep the muscle in an ideal condition.  They also have beer added to their diet and regularly consume this adult beverage to relax their system to prevent any kind of chemical or hormone build up in their system that would even slightly decrease the best flavor.   They use the most humane method possible to put the cows down so that even at the moment their life ends there is no sudden burst of adrenaline that would influence that great kobe beef flavor.   This awesome way of life sometimes makes me jealous and I wish that I could be reincarnated as a Kobe Beef cow.

Kobe Beef Value

Kobe Beef is priced at a level that is disproportionate to the cost of the same cut of beef at the supermarket or butcher.  You might expect to pay about ten to fifteen dollars for a really good burger at a restaurant or even twenty five dollars for an extraordinary hamburger, but to buy a Kobe Beef burger that might be about a quarter-pounder you can expect to pay more than one hundred dollars.   As you can imagine the amount of human labor and the cost of feed for raising Kobe Beef is so high that the cost to raise this beef is more than thirty times the cost of beef raised in the feed lots of America.