March 19, 2011

 

Harmful radiation threatens Japan's wagyu beef

 

 

Japan's agricultural output and exports, including premium wagyu beef, are under threat of radioactive contamination as the nation struggles to stop pollution from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant.

 

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has asked each prefectural governor to start testing agricultural and marine products along with drinking water for possible contamination in order to keep tainted food including grains, milk, vegetables, meat and eggs from the market, said Kumiko Tanaka at the ministry's policy planning and communication division.

 

The action highlights the severity of the radiation leak from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi power station, about 220 kilometres (140 miles) north of Tokyo, after Japan's biggest earthquake on record and tsunami hit the area on March 11. Workers resumed dousing the damaged reactor structures with seawater from fire trucks today, as they try to stem radioactive pollution from the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

 

"I'm concerned about excessive reaction by consumers. Farmers in the area face the risk that their products will be shunned by consumers, even without scientific evidence," Tetsurou Shimizu, chief researcher at Norinchukin Research Institute Co. in Tokyo, said.

 

Farmers in Fukushima produce rice, vegetables, fruits, beef, pork, chicken and eggs, according to the prefecture's website. Neighbouring Ibaraki prefecture is the largest supplier of vegetables to consumers in Tokyo, Shimizu said.

 

Japan exported 677 tonnes of beef, including "wagyu" meat, in the year ended March 31, 2010, the government data show. Vietnam was the largest buyer with 433 tonnes, followed by Hong Kong with 119 tonnes and the US with 81 tonnes.

 

 

The Health Ministry has tentatively set tolerable levels of radioactivity for each product. For drinking water, the level is set at 300 becquerel per kilogramme of radioactive iodine. For milk, 200 becquerel per kilogramme of radioactive cesium.

 

If contaminated foods are discovered through testing, the health ministry will order their producers to suspend output and shipments immediately, Tanaka said.

 

Pollution from the nuclear plant has also dealt a blow to Japan's agriculture ministry as it aims to boost rice exports to China and beef exports to Hong Kong as premium products.

 

"We have not received any report of an import ban on Japanese food products because of a radiation leak from the Fukushima plant. We'll ensure that foods tested for contamination will never be shipped out of Japan," said Toshinori Mitsunaga at the export promotion office of the ministry.

 

The EU recommended more controls on agricultural products from Japan following the radiation leaks from the Fukushima nuclear-power plant, said European Commission spokesman Frederic Vincent.

 

Asian countries have started to screen food imports from Japan following explosions at the nuclear plant that raised radiation levels at the complex to harmful levels.

 

South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines all took steps to check fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood from Japan for nuclear material. A radiation dose of 100 millisieverts a year is the lowest level at which any increase in cancer is evident, the World Nuclear Association said.