There is very very serious radioactive leak spreading in Japan from Fukujima. It had been propagating through time, and the contamination will only reach further and further, spreading wider and wider. No containment possible.
Sushi, Sashimi, rice, tea, sake wine, beer, fruits, juice, noodles, medicine, clothe, textile, garment, mattress, furniture, books, automotive anything. The list of discovered contamination kept increasing. The radioactive contamination gets from the environment into their products and exported worldwide. Consumers users are the victims. you can get from cancer to radiological ailments to birth defects.
http://www.fda.gov/newsevents/publichealthfocus/ucm247403.htm
FDA Response to the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Facility Incident
On This Page:
March 2014 Update
Questions about Food Safety
Questions about Medical Products
March 2014 Update
To date, FDA has no evidence that radionuclides from the Fukushima incident are present in the U.S. food supply at levels that would pose a public health concern. This is true for both FDA-regulated food products imported from Japan and U.S. domestic food products, including seafood caught off the coast of the United States. Consequently, FDA is not advising consumers to alter their consumption of specific foods imported from Japan or domestically produced foods, including seafood. FDA continues to closely monitor the situation at and around the Fukushima Dai-ichi facility, as it has since the start of the incident and will coordinate with other Federal and state agencies as necessary, standing ready to take action if needed, to ensure the safety of food in the U.S. marketplace.
Import Alert # 99-33 disclaimer icon , which instructs FDA field personnel to detain foods shipments from Japan if the food is likely to contain radionuclide contamination, remains active. In addition, FDA tests for radionuclides as part of its routine surveillance, through the toxic elements in food and foodware monitoring program and through its Total Diet Study.
On top of the information obtained from its testing of imported and domestic foods, FDA stays current on radiation monitoring efforts by other U.S. Government agencies, including the environmental radiation monitoring program (RadNet) conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Additionally, the Agency consults on a formal and informal basis with experts from government, academia and the private sector on radiation safety issues. FDA scientists also keep abreast of scientific publications and reports from both private and public scientific institutions, including oceanographic research institutions. For example, a study published in 2012 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) reported finding very low levels of Cesium in Pacific Bluefin tuna caught by recreational fisherman off the coast of California in August 2011. FDA reviewed this study and determined that the levels of cesium were roughly 300 times lower than levels that would prompt FDA to investigate further to determine if there were a health concern.
FDA also closely monitors information and data from a number of foreign governments and international organizations. This includes monitoring;
the Japanese government’s food sample testing program
the import sample testing programs of nations geographically close to Japan that import significant amounts of food from Japan
Fukushima Dai-ichi incident related activities of international organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
FDA continues to pay close attention to the situation at the Fukushima Dai-ichi facility and to use data, and information from the variety of sources described above, including the results of its own testing and surveillance efforts to ensure that any FDA-regulated food with harmful levels of radiation as a result of the Fukushima incident is kept out of the U.S. market.
http://blog.safecast.org/2014/01/faq-contaminated-food-in-japan/
FAQ: Contaminated Food In Japan
Posted on January 3, 2014 15:50 by sean
1 Comment
We frequently get emails from people traveling to Japan asking if it’s safe to eat the food in country, for fear of contamination from Fukushima and thought the answer we’ve been sending out recently would be helpful/informative for others as well. [Edited to clarify that we think examining the risks in a scientific sense alone is insufficient.]
We want to be perfectly clear: we believe people everywhere have a right to uncontaminated food. True justice in this regard would mean a food supply that is clearly safe, one without Cesium or other contaminants, and a protection system that enjoyed the confidence and support of citizens. It would mean a robust third-party food monitoring system and adequate watchdogs were in place, and were allowed to crosscheck official findings freely and openly. Sadly, this is not yet the case in Japan, and is probably not the case anywhere else in the world yet either.
SAFECAST is not equipped yet to do our own food measurements, but we cooperate with independent food measurement labs and constantly monitor both official and independent results. There has been a lot of confusion about how food is being checked, how often, and by whom. This is mainly because the food monitoring system was not initially intended for informing the public as much as for providing guidance to producers and local government agriculture officials. So the results end up being hundreds of pages of confusing data.
Nevertheless, this monitoring system appears to have been effective in keeping food with contamination levels above the legally allowed level (100 bequerel/kilo or 100 Bq/kg) off the market. We say “effective,” not “perfect.” And although the 100Bq/kg level is the strictest in the world, some people insist it should be even stricter. A person’s decision about whether or not to eat local food should probably be based on whether or not they are comfortable with this 100Bq/kg limit.....
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/foodsafety/the-nuclear-accident-in-japan/
Radiation Impacts
The Nuclear Accident in Japan
The full impact of the Japanese nuclear crisis remains to be seen, but the health risks posed by radioactive contamination are well documented. In 2006, the National Academies of Science issued a definitive report on radiation exposure that concluded that even low levels of radiation can cause human health problems, including cancer, heart disease, or immune disorders.
The United States imports around 80 percent of its seafood as well as an increasing share of its fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, the FDA inspects less than two percent of these imports, leaving consumers at risk to a host of food-borne issues, which now includes potential radioactivity.
Take Action Now
Radioactive emissions from Japan have been detected throughout the United States, from California to Colorado and as far east as Massachusetts. Monitors in the Carolinas have detected the presence of radioactive iodine, the first time this material had been detected there since the Chernobyl accident 25 years ago.
A major avenue for exposure to radioactive contamination comes through food and water. Decades after the Chernobyl accident, the United Kingdom still maintains restrictions on large sectors of the country’s sheep production because radioactive cesium—dispersed through wind and rain—still contaminates grazing lands.
The U.S. imported around 150 million pounds of food from Japan in 2010, a small percentage of what Americans consumed, but not an insignificant amount. Imports from Japan included nearly 600,000 pounds of crab and anchovies and nearly 5 million gallons of bottled water, soft drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages containing water, products that may be potentially higher risk if contamination continues to spread to the ocean and fresh water sources.
American consumers could be at risk through consumption of food products from other countries that experience radioactive fallout from the nuclear accident in Japan as well.
What We Recommend
THE LATEST FROM OUR BLOG
Food & Water Watch on GMA
Any Radiation Can Be Harmful
The FDA should immediately ban all food and water imports from Japan, expanding on the FDA’s original step of restricting imports of milk and produce from the region near the accident site.
The EPA should increase its monitoring in the United States of air, water, precipitation, and milk for radiation.
The data generated by this environmental monitoring should be used by the FDA and the USDA to design sampling programs for soil, water used for irrigation, livestock or crop production, crops including leafy greens, and meat and milk in areas of the United States that are affected by radiation.
Congress should provide adequate funding for food inspection, both at home and abroad, instead of attempting to cut both USDA and FDA’s funding, which would weaken their ability to meet their current obligations even without the additional burden posed by this nuclear accident.
Congress should rethink our agricultural and trade policies, which encourage importation of an increasing share of our food from countries with weak regulatory regimes. If radiation from Japan ends up affecting these countries’ food systems, regulators there will not have the tools to ensure that food production i
http://www.guillaumeerard.com/life-...tive-contamination-and-tips-for-safe-shopping
How to eat safely in Japan? Basics on radioactivity and safe shopping.
Created on Tuesday, 15 November 2011 19:10
Written by: Guillaume Erard
Food safety in JapanEight months have passed since March 11th 2011 and the Great Tohoku Earthquake which triggered a tsunami that devastated the eastern coast of Japan and provoked the worst nuclear incident since Chernobyl. The initial fears and the foreign media frenzy now over, one could now think that all is back to normal in Japan. From inside Japan however, things are still far from normal, even for those who were fortunate enough to live several hundreds of kilometers away from Fukushima and its crippled nuclear power plant. One of the main problems that all people have to face is to ensure their family’s safety as regards to the food that they consume. While the entire population of Japan is concerned, foreigners are a lot more susceptible than any other as they might not necessarily be able to access or understand crucial information regarding to the provenance and relative safety of the food that they purchase.
Contents
The basics of radioactive contamination
Making sense of radioactivity measurements
Prefixes and metric system
Becquerel
Count per minute
Doses
Routes of radioactive exposure
Exposure to an external radioactive source
Exposure to an internal radioactive source
The situation in Japan as regards to radioactive contamination
Airborne contamination
Radioactive isotopes contamination of farming soil
How to make sure of the origin of the product that you purchase in Japan
A few rules for safe shopping
Concluding remarks
References
To illustrate the consciousness raising that occurred lately, Tokyo authorities have also just started to conduct a systematic testing of the radioactivity in food sampled across the capital. This comes almost at the same time as the publication in PNAS of the first major report on radioactive contamination of Japanese soils. The time is particularly crucial as foreign residents and travelers are slowly starting to return to Japan although they are legitimately concerned about their safety during their trip. I would like to give you a detailed account of the state of things as regards to radioactivity contamination of foods in Japan and hopefully, provide you with useful information in order to ensure the safest possible traveling and living experience.
Japan is slowly picking up the pieces of its devastated provinces and some residents start to repopulate some of the 20-30 km exclusion zones.[1] Resident foreigners are pretty much all back and tourists start to be visible again in the streets and near the major sightseeing locations. There has been much confusion over the past months with the circulation of a lot of nonsensical and contradictory information. For the people who are thinking of traveling in Japan, I feel that it is a good time to provide again some clear and concise information about the nature of radioactive contamination and the ways it can enter the body.
The basics of radioactive contamination and exposure
Half-life
The half-life (T1/2) of a radionuclide is the time taken for half of the atoms to d......
Sushi, Sashimi, rice, tea, sake wine, beer, fruits, juice, noodles, medicine, clothe, textile, garment, mattress, furniture, books, automotive anything. The list of discovered contamination kept increasing. The radioactive contamination gets from the environment into their products and exported worldwide. Consumers users are the victims. you can get from cancer to radiological ailments to birth defects.
http://www.fda.gov/newsevents/publichealthfocus/ucm247403.htm
FDA Response to the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Facility Incident
On This Page:
March 2014 Update
Questions about Food Safety
Questions about Medical Products
March 2014 Update
To date, FDA has no evidence that radionuclides from the Fukushima incident are present in the U.S. food supply at levels that would pose a public health concern. This is true for both FDA-regulated food products imported from Japan and U.S. domestic food products, including seafood caught off the coast of the United States. Consequently, FDA is not advising consumers to alter their consumption of specific foods imported from Japan or domestically produced foods, including seafood. FDA continues to closely monitor the situation at and around the Fukushima Dai-ichi facility, as it has since the start of the incident and will coordinate with other Federal and state agencies as necessary, standing ready to take action if needed, to ensure the safety of food in the U.S. marketplace.
Import Alert # 99-33 disclaimer icon , which instructs FDA field personnel to detain foods shipments from Japan if the food is likely to contain radionuclide contamination, remains active. In addition, FDA tests for radionuclides as part of its routine surveillance, through the toxic elements in food and foodware monitoring program and through its Total Diet Study.
On top of the information obtained from its testing of imported and domestic foods, FDA stays current on radiation monitoring efforts by other U.S. Government agencies, including the environmental radiation monitoring program (RadNet) conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Additionally, the Agency consults on a formal and informal basis with experts from government, academia and the private sector on radiation safety issues. FDA scientists also keep abreast of scientific publications and reports from both private and public scientific institutions, including oceanographic research institutions. For example, a study published in 2012 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) reported finding very low levels of Cesium in Pacific Bluefin tuna caught by recreational fisherman off the coast of California in August 2011. FDA reviewed this study and determined that the levels of cesium were roughly 300 times lower than levels that would prompt FDA to investigate further to determine if there were a health concern.
FDA also closely monitors information and data from a number of foreign governments and international organizations. This includes monitoring;
the Japanese government’s food sample testing program
the import sample testing programs of nations geographically close to Japan that import significant amounts of food from Japan
Fukushima Dai-ichi incident related activities of international organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
FDA continues to pay close attention to the situation at the Fukushima Dai-ichi facility and to use data, and information from the variety of sources described above, including the results of its own testing and surveillance efforts to ensure that any FDA-regulated food with harmful levels of radiation as a result of the Fukushima incident is kept out of the U.S. market.
http://blog.safecast.org/2014/01/faq-contaminated-food-in-japan/
FAQ: Contaminated Food In Japan
Posted on January 3, 2014 15:50 by sean
1 Comment
We frequently get emails from people traveling to Japan asking if it’s safe to eat the food in country, for fear of contamination from Fukushima and thought the answer we’ve been sending out recently would be helpful/informative for others as well. [Edited to clarify that we think examining the risks in a scientific sense alone is insufficient.]
We want to be perfectly clear: we believe people everywhere have a right to uncontaminated food. True justice in this regard would mean a food supply that is clearly safe, one without Cesium or other contaminants, and a protection system that enjoyed the confidence and support of citizens. It would mean a robust third-party food monitoring system and adequate watchdogs were in place, and were allowed to crosscheck official findings freely and openly. Sadly, this is not yet the case in Japan, and is probably not the case anywhere else in the world yet either.
SAFECAST is not equipped yet to do our own food measurements, but we cooperate with independent food measurement labs and constantly monitor both official and independent results. There has been a lot of confusion about how food is being checked, how often, and by whom. This is mainly because the food monitoring system was not initially intended for informing the public as much as for providing guidance to producers and local government agriculture officials. So the results end up being hundreds of pages of confusing data.
Nevertheless, this monitoring system appears to have been effective in keeping food with contamination levels above the legally allowed level (100 bequerel/kilo or 100 Bq/kg) off the market. We say “effective,” not “perfect.” And although the 100Bq/kg level is the strictest in the world, some people insist it should be even stricter. A person’s decision about whether or not to eat local food should probably be based on whether or not they are comfortable with this 100Bq/kg limit.....
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/foodsafety/the-nuclear-accident-in-japan/
Radiation Impacts
The Nuclear Accident in Japan
The full impact of the Japanese nuclear crisis remains to be seen, but the health risks posed by radioactive contamination are well documented. In 2006, the National Academies of Science issued a definitive report on radiation exposure that concluded that even low levels of radiation can cause human health problems, including cancer, heart disease, or immune disorders.
The United States imports around 80 percent of its seafood as well as an increasing share of its fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, the FDA inspects less than two percent of these imports, leaving consumers at risk to a host of food-borne issues, which now includes potential radioactivity.
Take Action Now
Radioactive emissions from Japan have been detected throughout the United States, from California to Colorado and as far east as Massachusetts. Monitors in the Carolinas have detected the presence of radioactive iodine, the first time this material had been detected there since the Chernobyl accident 25 years ago.
A major avenue for exposure to radioactive contamination comes through food and water. Decades after the Chernobyl accident, the United Kingdom still maintains restrictions on large sectors of the country’s sheep production because radioactive cesium—dispersed through wind and rain—still contaminates grazing lands.
The U.S. imported around 150 million pounds of food from Japan in 2010, a small percentage of what Americans consumed, but not an insignificant amount. Imports from Japan included nearly 600,000 pounds of crab and anchovies and nearly 5 million gallons of bottled water, soft drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages containing water, products that may be potentially higher risk if contamination continues to spread to the ocean and fresh water sources.
American consumers could be at risk through consumption of food products from other countries that experience radioactive fallout from the nuclear accident in Japan as well.
What We Recommend
THE LATEST FROM OUR BLOG
Food & Water Watch on GMA
Any Radiation Can Be Harmful
The FDA should immediately ban all food and water imports from Japan, expanding on the FDA’s original step of restricting imports of milk and produce from the region near the accident site.
The EPA should increase its monitoring in the United States of air, water, precipitation, and milk for radiation.
The data generated by this environmental monitoring should be used by the FDA and the USDA to design sampling programs for soil, water used for irrigation, livestock or crop production, crops including leafy greens, and meat and milk in areas of the United States that are affected by radiation.
Congress should provide adequate funding for food inspection, both at home and abroad, instead of attempting to cut both USDA and FDA’s funding, which would weaken their ability to meet their current obligations even without the additional burden posed by this nuclear accident.
Congress should rethink our agricultural and trade policies, which encourage importation of an increasing share of our food from countries with weak regulatory regimes. If radiation from Japan ends up affecting these countries’ food systems, regulators there will not have the tools to ensure that food production i
http://www.guillaumeerard.com/life-...tive-contamination-and-tips-for-safe-shopping
How to eat safely in Japan? Basics on radioactivity and safe shopping.
Created on Tuesday, 15 November 2011 19:10
Written by: Guillaume Erard
Food safety in JapanEight months have passed since March 11th 2011 and the Great Tohoku Earthquake which triggered a tsunami that devastated the eastern coast of Japan and provoked the worst nuclear incident since Chernobyl. The initial fears and the foreign media frenzy now over, one could now think that all is back to normal in Japan. From inside Japan however, things are still far from normal, even for those who were fortunate enough to live several hundreds of kilometers away from Fukushima and its crippled nuclear power plant. One of the main problems that all people have to face is to ensure their family’s safety as regards to the food that they consume. While the entire population of Japan is concerned, foreigners are a lot more susceptible than any other as they might not necessarily be able to access or understand crucial information regarding to the provenance and relative safety of the food that they purchase.
Contents
The basics of radioactive contamination
Making sense of radioactivity measurements
Prefixes and metric system
Becquerel
Count per minute
Doses
Routes of radioactive exposure
Exposure to an external radioactive source
Exposure to an internal radioactive source
The situation in Japan as regards to radioactive contamination
Airborne contamination
Radioactive isotopes contamination of farming soil
How to make sure of the origin of the product that you purchase in Japan
A few rules for safe shopping
Concluding remarks
References
To illustrate the consciousness raising that occurred lately, Tokyo authorities have also just started to conduct a systematic testing of the radioactivity in food sampled across the capital. This comes almost at the same time as the publication in PNAS of the first major report on radioactive contamination of Japanese soils. The time is particularly crucial as foreign residents and travelers are slowly starting to return to Japan although they are legitimately concerned about their safety during their trip. I would like to give you a detailed account of the state of things as regards to radioactivity contamination of foods in Japan and hopefully, provide you with useful information in order to ensure the safest possible traveling and living experience.
Japan is slowly picking up the pieces of its devastated provinces and some residents start to repopulate some of the 20-30 km exclusion zones.[1] Resident foreigners are pretty much all back and tourists start to be visible again in the streets and near the major sightseeing locations. There has been much confusion over the past months with the circulation of a lot of nonsensical and contradictory information. For the people who are thinking of traveling in Japan, I feel that it is a good time to provide again some clear and concise information about the nature of radioactive contamination and the ways it can enter the body.
The basics of radioactive contamination and exposure
Half-life
The half-life (T1/2) of a radionuclide is the time taken for half of the atoms to d......
