Japan: Green Tea Exports Banned Due To High Levels Of Radioactive Cesium

The Japanese government has banned shipments of green tea leaves in four regions after high levels of radioactive caesium were found.


Workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant are shielded with tarps  Photo: AP

A swathe of Japan’s tea making regions including parts of Tochigi, Chiba and Kanagawa prefecture as well as the whole of Ibaraki were included within the ban, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Green tea plantations were first highlighted as suffering from potential radiation contamination last month following the results of sample tests in Kanagawa prefecture.

The authorities discovered around 570 becquerels of caesium per kilogram in leaves grown in the city of Minamiashigara – compared to the legal limit of 500 – and started a recall of tea products.

Tea leaves are the latest agricultural products in Japan to be affected by problems surrounding the still-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

From milk to spinach, a raft of items have fallen under the spotlight due to radiation fears although Japanese authorities have assured the public and its export nations that it is strictly regulating products.

Tens of thousands of farmers have been hit hard by the nuclear crisis, due to issues surrounding potential soil contamination and food safety fears with many also having had to abandon their animals in the evacuation area.

By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo

7:00AM BST 03 Jun 2011

Source: The Telegraph

1 thought on “Japan: Green Tea Exports Banned Due To High Levels Of Radioactive Cesium”

  1. Thank you so much for staying on this story. Since the US, Canada, Norway and Japan are downplaying the ongoing radioactive damage, your site is one of the few with any information. I live in a coastal rainforest in Northern CA, and it is continuing to pour acid rain here. We are getting record rainfall, I have never seen rain like this in May/June. We are going to have 3-6 inches totals by Monday. Keeping out of the rain, washing carefully if wet, removing shoes before entering the house….all these simple instructions I was able to find on this website. Our own government is mute, and so is all of MSM.
    Please stay on this story, it is very important, and I find it appalling we cannot get real updates from our governments. Their response to the disaster was to shut down the radiation monitors as soon as radiation showed up.
    Our entire way of living is being demolished, and we cannot get any truth from our governments.
    Sincere thanks for all you are doing, the fact people can get the truth here is a welcome relief from all the MSM noise out there. Tonight, it is John Edwards and Casey Anthony as topics to keep us diverted…..what kind of fools do they think we are?
    Regards,
    Marilyn Gjerdrum

    Reply

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.