Japan is now facing a contaminated beef scare as the radioactivity spreading from the affected Fukushima plant has not been prevented by the government.

Reports from different media organizations including the AFP, national network NHK and the Asahi Shimbun have noted that a tainted food scare now haunts local consumers.

After more than four months into the nuclear crisis, Japan has not put up a centralised monitoring system to check food for radiation, relying instead on testing carried out by local authorities.

So far, meat from 132 cattle that ate straw contaminated with high levels of radioactive caesium are known to have been shipped across the country, according to local media including national network NHK and the Asahi Shimbun.

Of the 47 prefectures in Japan, 36 of them have received meat from the affected animals, while contaminated meat is believed to have been consumed in 31 prefectures, NHK said.

The government is expected on Tuesday to ban all beef shipments from Fukushima prefecture, with the area's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant still emitting radioactivity, said AFP in a related report.

Kohei Otsuka, senior vice health minister, suggested that the beef shipment ban may also be expanded to cover areas outside of Fukushima, depending on the results of investigations into the extent of the contamination, reports said.