The discovery is confirmed by a spokesperson for the government in Jakarta. The government has launched an investigation after American health authorities alerted that the radioactive isotope cesium-137 has been detected in spices imported from Indonesia.
In August, American retail chains recalled frozen shrimp, also imported from Indonesia, which had been exposed to radioactive contamination in the form of low doses of cesium-137 before reaching the USA.
The Indonesian government has sent inspectors to Java and Sumatra. So far, they have only found traces of radioactivity at the nutmeg farm in Lampung on Sumatra. The farm has been banned from sales and the country's nuclear energy authority is examining samples taken from there.
