Japan Released That Multiple Food Radioactive Material Tests Meet Standards

After the Fukushima wastewater was discharged, Japan released the local government’s test report on radioactive substances in food. The test items included milk, baby food, drinking water, agricultural products, seafood products, livestock products, etc., and the results were within the standard value.

TOKYO, JAPAN (Merxwire) – Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare recently released reports on the local government’s testing of radioactive substances in food in response to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident. After the Fukushima wastewater was discharged, the local prosecutors conducted tests on food sold on the market, including milk, baby food, drinking water, agricultural products, seafood products, livestock products, etc. The test results were within the standard value.

The testing areas include Sapporo City, Sendai City, Akita Prefecture, Tochigi Prefecture, Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama City, Kawasaki City, Sagamihara City, Yamanashi Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka City, Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture, Utsunomiya-shi, Chiba-ken, Suginami District, and Fukushima Prefecture. A total of 2713 test reports were within the standard value. In addition to the testing conducted by local governments, Japan’s National Institute of Pharmaceuticals and Food Hygiene conducted radioactive material testing on agricultural products, milk, and baby food, and the reported results did not exceed the standard value.

The Fukushima Daiichi Accident was caused by the earthquake on the east coast of Japan in March 2011. The accident produced a large amount of nuclear-contaminated cooling water. Japan uses The Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) to remove radioactive substances other than tritium and carbon-14 in cooling water. In April 2021, the Japanese government approved a plan to discharge ALPS-treated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean; in July 2023, The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a safety review report, concluding that the relevant discharges comply with international safety standards.

With the approval of the Japanese government and the supervision of the IAEA, Japan decided to start Fukushima wastewater discharge on August 24, 2023. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant will filter and dilute the nuclear-contaminated water and gradually discharge it into the ocean. Many countries and regions have raised concerns about the Fukushima nuclear wastewater discharge plan, worrying that the discharge of atomic wastewater may pose risks to the environment and human health. In addition to emphasizing that treated nuclear wastewater is no different from cooling water discharged from general atomic power plants, Japan has also established a testing mechanism to test food and fisheries.

The proportion of people who cook rice in Japan is relatively high; many families cook their food daily. Therefore, many Japanese people worry about whether radioactive substances will remain in food after the discharge of nuclear wastewater. The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare will continue to conduct testing of fresh food, dairy products, and drinking water sold in the domestic market and publish test reports of radioactive substances in food on its official website to provide public inquiry and enhance confidence in food safety.

Many countries have formulated preventive measures such as random inspection of food imported from Japan and inspection of fishing grounds. In addition to continuing to conduct relevant testing, Taiwan has established an information platform called Ocean Radioactive Information System, which uses seawater radiation monitoring lights to announce the amount of seawater radiation in the surrounding sea areas to safeguard people’s food safety.