(Below article is sourced from Terrie’s take 622 published on July 17 2011, excluding other articles and links.)
On July 4th we wrote a piece joining the dots on radiation
concentrations in places around Tokyo where there should
not be any. It seemed to us that radioactive nuclides, like
non-radioactive heavy metals, appear to be able to be
concentrated under certain circumstances and therefore even
though the atmosphere registers as clean, perhaps we should
still be worried about our food supply.
That article generated a lot of response, especially from
readers with children, wondering what they could do to
limit possible exposure to contamination. Normally we don’t
stick to a subject like this — we like to move our focus
around a bit. However, barely ten days after our Take, it
emerged in the Japanese press that in fact cattle from
Fukushima which tested clean on the outside were found to
have 2,300 becquerels per kilo (2,300 bq/kg) of Cesium-137,
about five times the legal limit, when slaughtered. What’s
worse, over one ton of the meat found its way into the food
supply, being sold all over the country.
Since then a number of other disturbing “finds” have arisen
in the press, indicating that not only were there some very
ill-informed decisions made by authorities as to what to do
with animal products (meat, milk, fish) in the period
immediately after the explosions at the Fukushima plant,
but that there still seems to be some sleight-of-hand going
on for government food health statistics.
The latest thing to catch our attention, which we
appreciate receiving from the well-informed folks at
www.safecast.org, is the news that contaminated milk from
Fukushima has been mixed with product at factories located
as far north as Tohoku. So if you thought you were buying
from a safe producing area, the milk authorities have had
different ideas.
This milk mixing revelation, so far unsubstantiated, comes
from a Prof. Takeda in his blog,
(http://takedanet.com/2011/07/post_088c.html), but it
appears to be backed up by a Sankei newspaper article
revealing that the authorities stopped monitoring Cesium
levels at individual milk producers in April, and instead
started monitoring cooling stations where the output comes
from many farmers, including those from safe areas.
Naturally the numbers were evened out and those farms with
“hot” output were no longer obvious as they got diluted
with less-contaminated product. Thus it was that on April
26 the ban on the sale of milk from Fukushima was lifted.
If you want to see which brands have been engaging in this
dubious practice, go here (sorry, many of the links from
here on are in Japanese only:
http://www.teppeinomori.com/201105/20110521001.htm)
OK, so we have the authorities trying to keep the dairy
business in Fukushima going through what we think is a
quite unethical practice. We suppose that in a twisted
logic sort of way, their rationale of diluting dirty
product with clean makes sense, since it keeps radiation
numbers below the limits. But would you drink it if you
knew this?
Our take on what to buy, what to avoid:
1. Leaf and Root Vegetables
The advice we’ve had so far is to generally avoid any
vegetables from Fukushima and possibly northern parts of
Ibaraki. If you can’t do this, and often vegetables are not
labeled as to their source anyway, then you’ll be wanting
to eat veges that grow deeper in the ground (Cesium tends
to stick to the top 5cm surface layer) or better still, eat
hydroponically grown veges for a while. There is a
plentiful supply of hydroponic Romaine lettuce, sprouts,
rucola, sunny lettuce, and other veges.
2. Rice
More concerning in a couple of months time will be new
harvest rice. It seems that rice planting was given the go
ahead in Fukushima after what appears to have been faulty
soil testing procedures. The government cut-off for soil
samples is 5,000 bq/kg of Cesium-134/137, and the Fukushima
government was getting 4,000bq/kg in their samples.
However, they were taking samples 5-15cm deep, while Cesium
sticks to the surface. Apparently a rice farmer took a
sample from the top 5cm of his land rather than below that
depth and had it independently tested. He found it was
contaminated to the tune of 35,000 bq/kg!!! Documented
here.
http://ameblo.jp/noukanomuko/entry-10926646707.html.
Incompetence? Purposeful manipulation of the tests? Hard to
say, but our advice about rice is clear. We would stock
pile with last year’s crop, before the new Fukushima
product makes its way into the food system. Rice keeps
forever in the fridge anyway, so we advise buying some
month’s supply and let the media do the sleuthing of
whether or not the new season’s product is safe or not.
3. Mushrooms
We would stay away from mushrooms that come from Fukushima
and any neighboring prefectures to the West and North —
since this is where the wind patterns blew some of the
Cesium-137 from the explosions. Mushrooms with gills, such
as shiitake, are apparently very efficient at absorbing
nuclides due to their not having roots and stems. Wild
mushrooms near Chernobyl are still showing up with
contamination 25 years after the event.
4. Fruits
The best thing about summer is peaches, and fall the apples
— two kings of Japanese fruit growing industry. Our guess
is that only a small quantity of these fruits are grown in
Fukushima and surrounds, and considering the volume you’d
be eating they pose a low risk. However, berries of all
types grown outdoors in and around Fukushima-ken should
probably be avoided — these are another source of
contamination from Chernobyl experience.
5. Proteins
Probably the biggest concern is about milk. As mentioned,
it has come out that the milk authorities have been mixing
Fukushima-sourced product with clean milk from other areas,
presumably so as to dilute it. We ONLY buy milk that
expressly says it comes from Hokkaido right there on the
packet. Our rationale is that it would constitute false
advertising if they were to mix it with product from
somewhere else.
Fukushima is a major producer of eggs and pork, which we
would avoid for the time being, unless they’re labeled as
being from somewhere else, or are imported product. What to
do with beef is less clear, despite the scandal over mixing
contaminated product, because public awareness will
probably keep supplier shenanigans to a minimum from now on.
However, thanks to the fact that Japan imports so much of
its food anyway, as one consumer said on TV recently, “If
it’s Aussie beef, I’ll eat it.” Yup, you have plenty of
alternatives. Try Costco if you want foreign food.
No one seems to know what to do about fish. Personally,
we’d stay away from fish that obviously comes from the
area, Sanma (Pacific Saury), etc. Instead, it’s not that
hard to stick to imported salmon, colder water fish such
as Hokke (Mackerel) which comes from the Sea of Okhotsk,
shrimp, and other varieties that are unlikely to be
locally sourced.
6. Bread and Processed Soy Products
Most of Japan’s cereals are imported, particularly flour
(wheat), so we think these products are safe. Soy on the
other hand may wind up being a “mixed bag” (like milk?).
Right now about 2/3 of Japan’s soybeans come from abroad,
primarily the USA and South America, but of the remaining
1/3, 25% comes from Tohoku. We don’t know how much comes
from Fukushima to the south, but our guess from agriculture
production figures, is that it’s not much.
7. Local Organic and Traceable Sources
If you are particularly concerned about source of produce,
then consider shopping online. If you use Radish Boya
(http://www.radishbo-ya.co.jp)
, an organic food supplier
which is extremely popular and well priced, they state
where the food comes from. Lots of Ibaraki-ken sourced
product, though, so we’re not sure how good this is. Other
prefectures where they appear to have contract farms
producing in large volume are in Chiba and Gunma — both of
which had less exposure to the fall-out from the
explosions. Radish Boya also tests its food for radiation
and generally to date they have been reliable with food
safety awareness — their brand would be destroyed
overnight if they weren’t.
8. Kyushu sourcing
If you are really concerned, then you could consider
sourcing from Kyushu and other further locations. Here are
some links to such sites. Again all in Japanese.
http://www.green-grace.co.jp/
http://vegetaberus.com/?tid=1&mode=f7
http://www.k-vf.com/
Lastly, we wish to keep things in perspective. At the
levels Cesium is being detected in our food in and around
Tokyo (versus right next to the Fukushima plant), the
situation appears to still be safe for adults. As an
indication, the US government says that if 100,000 people
were continuously exposed to a layer of soil with an
initial average concentration of 1 pCi/g (by our
calculations, about 37bq/kg) of Cesium-137, then 6
individuals would be predicted to die of cancer that could
be related to the exposure. This compares to about 20,000
people who would die from other types of cancer (US
average). The Japanese limit for food is 300 bq/kg, and in
eating such food, you would be excreting most Cesium-137
nuclides within 30 days.
Japan Earthquake & Related Info 