Bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms over the limit

April 4, 2012

Food over new limit for radioactive cesium

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20120404_34.html

Following the introduction of new safety regulations in Japan, several types of food have been found to contain radioactive cesium above the legal limit.

Stricter health standards for staple foods such as vegetables and rice were introduced on Sunday. Permissible levels of radioactivity were reduced from 500 to 100 becquerels per kilogram.

Health ministry officials said bamboo shoots harvested in the Kisarazu and Ichihara regions east of Tokyo were contaminated with 120 and 110 becquerels of radioactive Cesium per kilogram respectively.

Officials also said shiitake mushrooms grown outdoors in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, were found to contain 350 becquerels of radioactive Cesium.

Farmers voluntarily refrained from shipping these agricultural products to market and they will not be distributed to consumers.

The government is considering whether to order a compulsorily suspension of all shipments of contaminated bamboo shoots.