The Crisis in Japan

            On March 11 at 2:46pm JST a massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake occurred near the northeastern coast of Japan, creating extremely destructive tsunami waves which hit Japan just minutes after the earthquake, and triggering evacuations and warnings across the Pacific Ocean. The earthquake and tsunami have caused extensive and severe damage in Northeastern Japan, leaving thousands of people confirmed dead, injured or missing, and millions more affected by lack of electricity, water and transportation.

“Foods from and near the center of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last week had been found to contain high levels of nuclear radiation. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano confirmed in a press conference, on Saturday (March 19, 2011), that the milk produced by farm in Fukushima prefecture near nuclear installations which are destroyed, and spinach from Ibaraki prefecture had been found contaminated with nuclear radiation slightly above of the standards set by the government. However, Edano said that contaminated foods do not have a direct threat to human health. He stressed that people must remain calm. About the milk, he said, drinking it for a year would only expose consumers to nuclear radiation which is equivalent to a medical scanning ‘CT scan’.” (FDA)

The Japanese food only makes up about 4% of US’s Imports, but that still will have an impact on how we get foods from foreign countries. The FDA States they expect no risk to the U.S. food supply from radiation. Officials and health experts say the doses are low and not a threat to human health unless the contaminated products are consumed in unusually large quantities.