Gov’t bans shipments of some shiitake mushrooms near nuclear plant
Apr. 13, 2011
The government on Wednesday banned shipments of shiitake mushrooms grown outdoors in some areas near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, citing high levels of radioactivity, its top spokesman said.
The mushrooms subject to the ban are grown in five cities, eight towns and three villages in Fukushima Prefecture, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a news conference.
Edano said that all shiitake mushrooms grown indoors in the prefecture are safe.
The five cities are Date, Soma, Minamisoma, Tamura and Iwaki. The eight towns are Shinchi, Kawamata, Namie, Futaba, Okuma, Tomioka, Nahara and Hirono. The three villages are Iitate, Katsurao and Kawauchi.
For shiitake mushrooms grown outdoors in Iitate, located about 40 kilometers from the plant, Edano said the government has issued a separate order asking people not to eat them.
Following the government's decision, the Fukushima prefectural government cast doubt on the scope of such restrictions.
On April 1, shiitake mushrooms from Iwaki had a level of radioactive cesium of 890 becquerels per kilogram against the limit of 500 becquerels. High levels of radioactive cesium were also detected last week in mushrooms from Iitate, Date and Shinchi.
Already before the government's order, local authorities had requested mushroom growers in these municipalities not to ship them.
On April 4, the government introduced new rules to restrict shipments of produce after the nuclear plant, located about 220 kilometers from Tokyo, was ravaged by the March 11 massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami in the country's northeastern region.
On a municipality-by-municipality basis, it now issues shipment restrictions if radioactivity levels higher than tentative safe limits set by the health ministry are detected in products.
The government, meanwhile, made it a condition that a product will not be banned from shipment if its radioactivity data stays below the safety limits for three third straight weeks.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on April 13, 2011)
The mushrooms subject to the ban are grown in five cities, eight towns and three villages in Fukushima Prefecture, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a news conference.
Edano said that all shiitake mushrooms grown indoors in the prefecture are safe.
The five cities are Date, Soma, Minamisoma, Tamura and Iwaki. The eight towns are Shinchi, Kawamata, Namie, Futaba, Okuma, Tomioka, Nahara and Hirono. The three villages are Iitate, Katsurao and Kawauchi.
For shiitake mushrooms grown outdoors in Iitate, located about 40 kilometers from the plant, Edano said the government has issued a separate order asking people not to eat them.
Following the government's decision, the Fukushima prefectural government cast doubt on the scope of such restrictions.
On April 1, shiitake mushrooms from Iwaki had a level of radioactive cesium of 890 becquerels per kilogram against the limit of 500 becquerels. High levels of radioactive cesium were also detected last week in mushrooms from Iitate, Date and Shinchi.
Already before the government's order, local authorities had requested mushroom growers in these municipalities not to ship them.
On April 4, the government introduced new rules to restrict shipments of produce after the nuclear plant, located about 220 kilometers from Tokyo, was ravaged by the March 11 massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami in the country's northeastern region.
On a municipality-by-municipality basis, it now issues shipment restrictions if radioactivity levels higher than tentative safe limits set by the health ministry are detected in products.
The government, meanwhile, made it a condition that a product will not be banned from shipment if its radioactivity data stays below the safety limits for three third straight weeks.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on April 13, 2011)
