ID :
169779
Mon, 03/21/2011 - 17:53
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https://oananews.org//node/169779
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Asian countries step up radiation screening on Japanese food imports
TOKYO, March 21 Kyodo - Asian countries have stepped up their screening of Japanese food imports for radioactive contamination after radioactive substances were detected on vegetables and raw milk produced in Japan near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex.
In China, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine ordered local authorities Monday to inspect Japanese food imports for radiation, Xinhua News Agency said.
China imported $593 million worth of agricultural products from Japan last year.
Public concern in China about radioactive contamination of Japanese food products is expected to depress imports this year.
In South Korea, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday it will step up screening for radioactive contamination on both farm products produced in Japan and foreign farm products shipped through Japan.
Philippine authorities also started testing food imports from Japan for radiation, beginning Monday.
The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute said it had started scanning container cargoes from Japan for possible radiation.
The institute said it had placed radiation portal monitors in major ports in the country.
Separately, a World Health Organization spokesman said the WHO is conducting its own study on the health effects of food products exposed to radiation leaked into the atmosphere from Japan's damaged nuclear power complex.
''We are working on it,'' Peter Cordingley, spokesman for the WHO's Western Pacific Region, told Kyodo News in an interview.
Cordingley said WHO experts in Geneva are looking at the data collected by the Manila-based WHO Western Pacific regional office and are trying to ''get an understanding of every situation.''
The Japanese government said radioactive substances above legal limits have been detected in spinach and raw milk produced in areas close to the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex but the level of contamination is not harmful to human health.
The Japanese government has nevertheless ordered local governments to stop spinach and milk produced in the contaminated areas from reaching the market.
''We don't know the health effects of consuming this milk and spinach that's been tested,'' Cordingley said, while noting that one-time consumption ''won't make any difference at all.''
''It just depends on how long this goes on and how much is consumed,'' he said.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, damaged by the tsunami that struck after the massive March 11 earthquake, has sent radioactive substances over extensive areas of eastern Japan.
The Japanese government has evacuated residents within a 20-kilometer zone of the crippled nuclear power station and told residents living in areas within a 20-30 kilometer radius to avoid going outdoors.
In China, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine ordered local authorities Monday to inspect Japanese food imports for radiation, Xinhua News Agency said.
China imported $593 million worth of agricultural products from Japan last year.
Public concern in China about radioactive contamination of Japanese food products is expected to depress imports this year.
In South Korea, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday it will step up screening for radioactive contamination on both farm products produced in Japan and foreign farm products shipped through Japan.
Philippine authorities also started testing food imports from Japan for radiation, beginning Monday.
The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute said it had started scanning container cargoes from Japan for possible radiation.
The institute said it had placed radiation portal monitors in major ports in the country.
Separately, a World Health Organization spokesman said the WHO is conducting its own study on the health effects of food products exposed to radiation leaked into the atmosphere from Japan's damaged nuclear power complex.
''We are working on it,'' Peter Cordingley, spokesman for the WHO's Western Pacific Region, told Kyodo News in an interview.
Cordingley said WHO experts in Geneva are looking at the data collected by the Manila-based WHO Western Pacific regional office and are trying to ''get an understanding of every situation.''
The Japanese government said radioactive substances above legal limits have been detected in spinach and raw milk produced in areas close to the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex but the level of contamination is not harmful to human health.
The Japanese government has nevertheless ordered local governments to stop spinach and milk produced in the contaminated areas from reaching the market.
''We don't know the health effects of consuming this milk and spinach that's been tested,'' Cordingley said, while noting that one-time consumption ''won't make any difference at all.''
''It just depends on how long this goes on and how much is consumed,'' he said.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, damaged by the tsunami that struck after the massive March 11 earthquake, has sent radioactive substances over extensive areas of eastern Japan.
The Japanese government has evacuated residents within a 20-kilometer zone of the crippled nuclear power station and told residents living in areas within a 20-30 kilometer radius to avoid going outdoors.
