FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR PLANT DISASTER ANNIVERSARY

Today is the 6th anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, triggered primarily by the tsunami that followed the powerful earthquake on that date.

I have posted 32 posts on this blog relating to this incident, starting shortly after the disaster, and correctly predicting the food contamination that occurred. I have to admit that I was surprised to find that the most popular of the posts dealt with contamination of seaweed, with almost 10,000 views.

Looking once again at the sad photos from this incident in today's New York Times, my heart went out to the victims of this tragic incident.

TSF

AVOIDING RADIATION IN FOOD IN JAPAN

It is now more than 6 months since the tragic earthquake, tsunami and massive damage to the Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan. Although it is largely out of the international news these days, the difficulties in Japan continue. A major concern for many people is safety of their own and their family's food. How can they make sure it doesn't carry too much radiation, and endanger their health?

Unfortunately - as I predicted in early March (see earlier posts) - radionuclides are indeed turning up in Japan's food at high levels - often many times the safety standards established. Dangerous levels of radiation have now been found in such foods as beef, plums, spinach, bamboo shoots, rice, tea, milk, seaweed and fish. Some of this radiation-contaminated food has come from as far away as 360 kilometers from the nuclear plant.
Yes, authorities in Fukushima and neighboring prefectures are conducting spot checks on a growing number of food products. But clearly, as in any such activity, some is caught and some is missed. It is impossible to check every food item.

Effective controls also depend on cooperation of farmers, and farmers are understandably concerned about how positive findings would affect their livelihoods.

Many consumers are convinced that the government is just not doing enough to keep them safe. Rightly so, mothers of young children, pregnant and lactating women, are particularly concerned. Some strategies people are using themselves to try to avoid the more contaminated food products include:

• Avoiding foods from certain prefectures. But this is not as easy to do as one might assume.
• Joining cooperatives which re-test the food products they sell. But there is a price mark-up to cover the cost of such testing, which excludes people who are not as well off.
• Buying canned or frozen or dried products which were packaged prior to March, 2011.
• Diversification: for instance, rotating the brand of milk they buy so that their risks are reduced from any single one.
• Avoiding certain fresh food items altogether which they feel might be more likely to be contaminated, such as leafy greens, fresh milk.
• Eating imported foods as much as possible.

A few meals of food with high radiation levels are unlikely to hurt most people. But eating such food regularly over a period of time, has been shown by research to increase certain cancer risks as well as lead to other health problems, particularly if you are also being exposed to such contaminants from other sources (such as your water, or the environment). Yes, it is a good idea to be careful.

To your good health,
TSF

IS THERE TOO MUCH RADIATION IN RICE?

This blog warned about nuclear contamination of food in Japan very soon after the Fukushima nuclear plant crisis in northeast Japan on March 11. At that point, there was, as yet, no evidence or discussion of it. (Read the 20 earlier posts on this issue, beginning March 15). These fears have been confirmed. Excessive levels of radiation have been found in milk, vegetables, fruit, seaweed, fish, drinking water, animal feed - and, most recently, in beef.

It was only a matter of time before attention would turn to rice. Back on April 10, I (see "Can Rice be Contaminated?") I mentioned that the Government of Japan had advised farmers not to plant rice in certain areas because of this risk. We'll know soon whether such warnings were enough. The rice planted back in the spring is about to be harvested. Government-required testing of the rice is beginning in at least 14 prefectures in north and east Japan. About 40 percent of the annually harvested over 8 million tons of rice is grown in this area.

The testing will check levels of cesium in rice to make sure that they are not above the maximum government-imposed cap of 500 becquerels per kilogram. If any are, then shipments of rice from the area will be stopped.

Obviously farmers are anxious. But so are consumers. Rice is something that most people in Japan eat every day - including young children and pregnant women, who are at special risk. Cesium can build up in the body, resulting in higher risk for certain cancers as well as other health problems.

To your good health,
TSF

MORE RADIOACTIVE BEEF IN JAPAN

As I expected (see previous posts on this issue), more cattle in Japan have been found to have very high levels of radiation. This is bad news, but let me say right away for those readers from Japan: a few meals of this radiation-contaminated beef are unlikely to seriously affect your health. You would have to eat it regularly for a longer time.

The total number of cattle shipped now appears to be 648 from Fukushima Prefecture, plus about another 24 from Niigata Prefecture (this total is bound to increase further). At least 8 farms are involved. All are reported to have fed radiation-contaminated straw to the cattle. This straw was collected near the crippled Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant after the recent nuclear catastrophe. That is, it was exposed to radiation from the atmosphere. Some of it has been found to have extremely high levels of the radioactive isotope caesium.

So where did the contaminated beef end up? Basically, it was distributed widely in Japan. According to The Mainichi Daily News, of the cows from Fukushima farms, 199 were shipped to Tokyo, 192 to Hyogo Prefecture, nine to Gunma Prefecture, eight distributed within Fukushima Prefecture, two went to Tochigi Prefecture and one to Saitama Prefecture. The authorities are still tracing these shipments further and finding out if the meat has actually been sold to consumers or to institutional clients.

What this incident is also showing is that farmers in Japan are out of the post-disaster information loop. Six of the seven from Fukushima Prefecture said they hadn't even heard that they weren't supposed to feed their cattle straw that that been stored outside! I hope this situation is being addressed. If these cattle farmers hadn't heard, most likely others haven't either, and there is bound to be more contaminated feed around - including for other food animals and poultry.

To your good health,

TSF

RADIATION-CONTAMINATED BEEF IN STORES

On July 7, I reported about high levels of radiation found in some beef cattle from Fukushima prefecture in Japan ("Why Radiation-Contaminated Cattle are Bad News"). These cattle were raised about 20-30km away from the radiation-spewing nuclear power plant. I also noted that testing had caught the problem before the beef reached the market. Not so. The initial reports were wrong. Some of this beef, with 3-6 times allowed levels of the radionuclide, cesium, has been sold - and eaten. At least 2,650 pounds of it. Consumers in Japan are not happy. With reason.

In fact, it turns out that the contaminated meat has not just been sold in Tokyo, but in at least 13 prefectures of Japan (maybe more). Japan's second-biggest retailer, Aeon Co. admitted today to selling the beef. It's not the only one. The cattle had been fed rice straw tainted with radiation, in spite of the farmer's claims that he was very careful about cattle feed.

New bans and better testing are in the works. Consumers are suffering, and so are farmers, distributors, retailers. As far as we know at present, the suspect beef has not been exported to other countries. Japanese food exports are already down as a result of bans on many products in a number of countries. This will make the situation worse.

Unfortunately, with food contamination events, the news invariably gets worse than in the initial reports: more products are found to be contaminated, hazardous food is found to have been distributed more widely than initially thought, more people become ill. And, on occasions, dangerous food has been sold and eaten when we believed that testing had caught it in time. As in this case.

Is more bad news to come? My guess: as testing is expanded, high levels of cesium will soon be found in more cattle and in other food animals and poultry (read the four questions I raise in the July 7th post).

To your good health,
TSF

WHY RADIATION-CONTAMINATED CATTLE ARE BAD NEWS

Beef with high levels of radiation has been prevented from entering Tokyo's food markets. But only because the meat itself was tested during processing. The earlier pre-shipment external screening of the live cattle had passed them as "safe." According to a government official, this was the first time that excessive levels of radioactive caesium have been found in meat since the start of this Fukushima nuclear crisis in March (still unresolved).

Here are the facts: eleven cattle from a herd in Fukushima prefecture were found to have three to six times the legal limit of radioactive caesium (which can increase cancer risk) in their meat. And these cattle had lived outside the 20-30Km evactuation zone. In fact, they were reportedly moved there to be "safe" from radiation spewing out of Japan's crippled nuclear plant, raised indoors and fed safe food and water.

Alright, high levels of dangerous radionuclides in 11 cattle is not a big issue. Or is it? You could say, that it raises some very unpleasant - but important, questions. Here are some in my mind:

 How many other cattle with such high levels of radionuclides actually reached the market? Some 3,000 beef cattle from the same area have also passed external testing for contaminants since April. None - as also in the case of this herd - tested positive for radiation during the initial screening. It seems that their meat was not tested before it was sold and eaten. Was it also above safe levels?
 Is the currently performed random testing of actual market-ready food items sufficient to protect the public? According to a Japan's Ministry of Health spokesman, less than 1% of actual food (including meat, fresh produce, and seafood) is being tested for nuclear contaminants.
 What about other food animals such as swine and poultry? The government of Fukushima prefecture has asked farmers in Minamisouma to refrain from cattle shipments (sounds a bit vague) but no action has been taken or advice given on other poultry or livestock.
 How did these cattle end up with such high levels if they were (as claimed) raised indoors and fed safe food? And what does this imply for other food animals - and humans?

To your good health,
TSF

HOW DANGEROUS IS RADIATION IN GREEN TEA?

We tend to think of green tea as a healthy drink. Initially, I found the taste a little difficult to become used to, but am now drinking a couple of cups a day. I have friends who drink ten cups or more. All those wonderful antioxidants that our bodies need! Not only has green tea been drunk for thousands of years in countries such as China, India, Thailand and Japan, but it has been used as a medicine to treat anything and everything, ranging from flatulence to heart conditions. Besides, it is supposed to be good for your complexion.

Now we are reading reports that some of the tea grown in Japan may be accumulating high levels of radionuclides from the crippled Fukushima Dachii nuclear power plant (see yesterday's post). The tea growers from Shizuoka Prefecture, where much of Japan's tea is grown, say this kind of concern is ridiculous. So do some members of the opposition party.

After all, dry tea is a concentrated product. When tea leaves are fresh, and therefore heavier, testing would show lower levels of unhealthy radionuclides such as cesium-137 and 134. And besides, when you add water to dry tea leaves, it becomes even more diluted, thus lowering levels of radionuclides to acceptable levels.

Yes, all this is probably true, but still, I can't say I like the idea of drinking my "healthy" green tea with a touch of nuclear contaminants.

And you had better not chew on the green tea leaves, just in case! Some people do. Not even in your chewing gum, or those delicious Trader Joe's green tea candies.

To your good health,

TSF

HIGH LEVELS OF RADIATION FOUND IN GREEN TEA

Efforts continue to contain the situation at the crippled Fukushima Daichii nuclear power plant in Japan. I just looked at Ministry of Health's latest published results on testing of food for iodine, cesium-134 and cesium-137. I found the levels of radionuclides to be surpisingly low for the most part, although clearly some rivers (and fish) are becoming quite contaminated.

But the news hitting the wires is the discovery of high levels of radiation in a green tea shipment at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris yesterday. The tea had come from Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture. Apparently the detected level of the radionuclide cesium were 1,038 becquerels per kg of tea. This is about double the European Union's maximum allowed radioactive load in foods (cesium 134 and cesium 137). (But note - I have found no official statement.)

This Shizuoka Prefecture produces some 40% of Japan's green tea. Some ten days ago, the Prefecture announced that it had found levels of 679 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram of tea from a producer 355 Km from the nuclear plant. The tea farmers in the area are very upset since their livelihoods are at stake. Shipment of tea from this producer was stopped, and testing expanded. But apparently some got through from somewhere. Or so it seems - if these reports are true.

But relax - customs officials detained the tea and it did not enter the marketplace. At least this shipment didn't. Who knows what other countries received some from the same or neighboring producers. I certainly know that here in the U.S. we import green tea from Japan. I just finished drinking some...

To your good health,

TSF

FUKUSHIMA RADIATION CONTINUES TO CONTAMINATE FOOD

Tomorrow, June 11, will be the 3 month anniversary of the disastrous tsunami and nuclear catastrophe in Japan. I was heavily blogging the implications for food safety before this huge European E.coli bacteria outbreak diverted my attention. Now I am back.

The contamination of the environment and of food seems to be much less in the news now than it was during the first two months. In fact, very little information on levels of radionuclides in Japan's food seems to be released, even though testing is apparently ongoing. But that does not mean that radioactive material from the damaged Fukushima nuclear facility is no longer drifting over populated areas and agricultural land where crops grow and animals graze. It is. Nor does it mean that people, especially in Japan, are not concerned about how this affects the safety of their food. I can tell they are from the searches that reach my blog.

So, in answer to some of the questions people have, I tried to find out where the radioactive material is going. After much searching, I finally found information on the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety

Agency's (ARPANSA) official site. They have modeled its path according to wind conditions. From yesterday, June 9 the radioactive materials was supposed to mainly be over Northern Japan. However, starting from Saturday mid-morning, changing wind conditions would push the plume to the south of the reactor site. There may be some landfall over Southern Japan. While no landfall is expected in Tokyo on Thursday, ARPANSA says it may occur Saturday and Sunday. Over the next 12 days or so, the radiation plume is expected to move over Korea, China, Russia and USA.

The ARPANSA website provides more detailed information. But you get the picture. The radioactive material is still drifting around. Soil, grass and agricultural crops in the path of the radiation plume are progressively becoming more and more contaminated as they accumulate unhealthy substances such as nuclear Caesium and Iodine (see earlier blogs for more information on these). Several countries which import Japanese food products such as seaweed, seafood, milk and fruits and vegetables are cautious about foods grown in Japanese prefectures of Kanagawa, Nagano, Niigata, Saitama, Tokyo, Yamagata, Miyagi and Shizuoka.

To your good health!

TSF

ARE U.S. CUCUMBERS SAFE TO EAT?

2011 seems to be the year of the cucumber. In food safety terms, that is. Three hazards have surfaced in cucumbers in just the past two months. Where does that leave us with eating raw cucumbers in the U.S.?

First there was the concern about radiation in cucumbers from the Fukushima area in Japan (see post of May 7). Yes, according to the latest government statistics I found (for 2009), Japan is eligible to export cucumber to the United States. But it is a very small player. Besides, as I said in the earlier blog, a small dose of radionuclides in a cucumber or two is not likely to cause permanent damage to your health. Although yes, pregnant women and young children should be extra careful.

The next cucumber-related safety issue that has surfaced this year is our old friend Salmonella bacteria. In early May there was a recall of cucumbers by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because of Salmonella contamination (see post for May 3). The infective dose for Salmonella bacteria is usually fairly low. Most likely you could just have eaten one of these Salmonella-infected cucumbers, or even a few slices and become ill. But in all, this seems to have been a fairly small outbreak.

Now there is the very frightening E.coli 0104:H4 outbreak in Europe, that appears to have originated in cucumbers exported from two growers in Spain. So is the U.S. importing cucumbers from Spain? The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data I found suggests that Spain is indeed eligible to export cucumbers to the U.S. But do we get them from the two cucumber producers in Spain that seem to be implicated in this outbreak? I don't know. But I am trying to find out.

In the meantime, if you are nervous about it, I would suggest that you buy local wherever possible. Personally, I have not stopped eating raw cucumbers. But until we know more, I check to make sure they are not imported from Spain. And as soon as mine are large enough to eat (if the squirrels don't get them first) I'll eat those.

To your good health!

TSF