See also:
– AND NOW … Meet The 3 Japanese Scientists That Say: ‘Plutonium is Not That Dangerous’ (Video)
– Stop claiming food is safe, ministry told (Japan Times/Kyodo News, Aug. 8, 2011):
Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto has committed an about-face on policy by telling his ministry to refrain from vouching for the safety of Japanese food.
The ministry stance changed after radiation-tainted beef was found to have been sold to consumers nationwide, sources said.
The contaminated meat is coming from cattle that were fed rice straw contaminated with cesium isotopes ejected by the disaster-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
To handle surging concerns abroad about the food supply, the Foreign Ministry told embassies and other diplomatic offices overseas to brief local authorities, importers and media organizations on measures the government is taking to prevent contaminated food from making it into public distribution channels.
The ministry has also asked its diplomatic offices to repeat its stance of disclosing safety information in a timely manner.
On July 8, Matsumoto said that he wanted to dispel food safety concerns by explaining what the government is doing to prevent tainted food from making it into the food supply.
But several countries have since asked about the beef scare after several cattle suspected of being fed tainted straw were found to have been slaughtered and their beef shipped to market months ago to stores and restaurants.