Countries ease limits on Japanese seafood as radiation fears ease; Greenpeace questions food safety

According to Jurin, state run labs tested Japanese seafood, vegetables and fruits for radiation contamination. Products are then sent to the FDA for a second round of testing; 322 products have been tested none have been found to be contaminated. Additionally the Medical Sciences Department has not found radiation in Thailand's environment.

China outright banned the imports of seafood, farm products and processed food from 12 affected prefectures. Furthermore, China also mandated radioactive screening and certifications from any imported food coming from Western Japan. Japan looks to negotiate easing Chinese restrictions since China--with the exception of Hong Kong-- accounted for 17% of Japan's total seafood exports, a 27% increase from 2009.

Two weeks ago, China, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo for a trilateral summit to discuss safe nuclear power, disaster management cooperation and food safety. During the summit China announced it will not require food checks for Japanese food with the exception of milk products, vegetable and seafood. China's Premier Wen Jiabao said Beijing will import more of Japan's food if safety standards are met and removed two prefectures from the import ban list.

Singapore lifted its fruit and vegetable ban from two prefectures of Japanese imports in mid-May following testing that showed no radiation. Singapore continues to ban food from 7 prefectures.

The US has consistently reported no Japanese radiation in its coastal waters and in imported seafood from Japan. The FDA reported testing approximately 40% of imports from March 21, 2011 to April 25 with no levels above background. The potential radiation scares for the US never came to fruition as most of the harmful radiation was diluted before it reached the West Coast.

As countries begin to ease bans however the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports Science and Technoloy (MEXT), has reported a 300 kilometer stretch of Pacific seabed has tested positive for high levels of radioactive materials that could affect the safety of seafood according to the Japanese science ministry. According to reports, 12 locations were tested off of Fukushima prefecture's Pacific coast. Radioactive cesium 137, measuring 110 becquerels per kilogram—about 100 time the normal level was found.

Greenpeace has reported 14 of 21 samples of fish, shellfish and seaweed recorded some levels of radioactive iodine and cesium in the same area. Greenpeace said the findings suggest that initial reports of the radioactivity diluting over time may be incorrect and consumers and fishermen could be at risk. Despite Greenpeace's claims no scientifically verifiable numbers have been released.

Though radiation levels in the seabeds are being reported 100 times greater than the normal level, the Japanese government said fish catches in the Myagi prefecture to be are well below the 500 becquerels of cesium -137 that the government deems the threshold level of concern. According to government officials, Marbled flounder, Northern sea urchin and Ezo abalone were all caught with radiation levels well below the threshold. 3.7 becquerel of radioactive cesium per kilogram was detected from Marbled flounder caught in the Sendai Bay, 2.9 becquerel of radioactive cesium was detected from Northern sea urchin landed in Shichigahama, and 2.1 becquerel of radioactive iodine and 5.2 becquerel of radioactive cesium from Ezo abalone. The central government sets the guideline that foods should not detect any higher than 2,000 becquerel of iodine and 500 becquerel of cesium. Overall, many countries continue to take a cautious approach to Japanese food, but are beginning to open their markets as Japan continues to prove that the radiation has been contained.

Greenpeace, however, is trying to create alarm about radiation levels that are detectable, but far below the levels that any government has established as a health risk.

According to a Reuters report, Fukushima Daiichi plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has said that more radioactive water could continue to leak into the Pacific. TEPCO expects to complete installation of a new water treatment facility that would decontaminate the 110K tons of water currently being stored. However, if the new treatment facilities are not ready or fail to function, the current containment pools are expected to reach maximum capacity by June 20 and excess water could then spill into the Pacific.

Japan continues to recover from the disaster as thousands remained displaced or missing and radiation reports continue to crop up all along the east coast of the country. Still, TEPCO and the Japanese government have continually stated their goal is a full recovery by the end of 2011.

(SEAFOOD.COM)