Radiation in Food

In the aftermath of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, one of the major concerns for the people in the country is the amount of radiation that they are likely to be exposed to. Little can be done about the amount of radiation in the environment that one is exposed to. The radiation levels are currently much lower than even a month before. We can definitely take certain steps towards reducing the amount of radiation by avoiding food which could be contaminated and cooking in a way that reduces any possible contamination. Foods like vegetables, fruits, meat, seafood, poultry are constantly monitored to check the contamination level and anything which does not pass the safety standard set by the government does not enter the market.

When we returned to Japan, last month, our friend took us to the department store and helped us identify the stuff that we could purchase without any fear of contamination. It was amazing to sea the seafood and meat being labeled for the place of origin. For instance seafood was marked as originating from Russia, Brazil etc. Also seafood from other parts of Japan such as Hokkaido was marked so that people could purchase these without worrying about the safety. Meat is mainly sourced from Australia or US and the marking sometimes also has a map or flag of the country. This is definitely a boon for people like us who do not read much of Japanese and survive with our Hiragana and Katakana reading skills. Seafood from the prefectures near Fukushima are also marked and sometimes also kept on separate shelves.

Vegetables and fruits from Fukushima or even local Iwaki produce is kept on separate shelves. Milk and milk products also have the marking of the place where they were produced. If one can memorise or identify the Kanji for few cities like Tokyo, Kanagawa or Hokkaido, it is easy to pick up the milk. Generally we prefer to purchase the milk from Hokkaido, the northernmost territory of Japan which is far flunged from the disaster affected area. One of our acquaintances also mentioned that the locals prefer to pick up vegetables produced from areas in southern and western Japan or Hokkaido. Tap water is reportedly safe for consumption, however it is advisable to avoid drinking tap water and prefer bottled water.

Our friend gave us a list of items which are restricted by the government for likely contamination. Few items have now been taken off the list, but it would be recommend to restrict the consumption of these :

S.No	Product	Japanese Name	Category	Produced in  Prefecture	Restricted till date
1	Yuzu	Yuzu	Fruit	Fukushima	Ongoing
2	Japanese apricot	Ume	Fruit	Fukushima	Ongoing
3	Trout/ Brook char	Yamame	Seafood	Fukushima	Ongoing
4	Japanese Dace	Ugui	Seafood	Fukushima	Ongoing
5	Sweet fish	Ayu	Seafood	Fukushima	Ongoing
6	Beef	Gyuniku	Meat	Fukushima	25th August 2011
7	Bamboo Shoot	Takenoko	Vegetables	Fukushima	Ongoing
8	Milk	Gyunyu	Dairy Products	Fukushima	7th October 2011
9	Turnip	Kabu	Vegetables	Fukushima	23rd March 2011
10	Sand Lance	Ikanago	Seafood	Fukushima	20th April 2011
11	Shiitake mushroom and Mushrooms	Shiitake, Kinoko	Mushrooms	Fukushima	18th October 2011
12	Flatfish	Karei	Seafood	Fukushima	Ongoing
13	Tea	O-Cha	Beverage	Chiba	4th July 2011
14	Spinach	Horensu	Vegetables	Chiba	8th April 2011
15	Shiitake mushroom and mushrooms	Shiitake, Kinoko	Mushrooms	Chiba	8th April 2011
16	Parsley	Paseri	Vegetables	Chiba	4th April 2011
17	Crown Daisy	Shyungi	Vegetables	Chiba	4th April 2011
18	Bok Choy	Chingensai	Vegetables	Chiba	4th April 2011
19	Tea	O-cha	Beverage	Ibaraki	18th October 2011
20	Parsley	Paseri	Vegetables	Ibaraki	17th April 2011
21	Milk	Gyunyu	Dairy Products	Ibaraki	10th April 2011
22	Spinach	Horensu	Vegetables	Ibaraki	1st June 2011
23	Shiitake mushroom and Mushrooms	Shiitake, Kinoko	Mushrooms	Ibaraki	14th October 2011
24	Beef	Gyuniku	Meat	Tochigi	25th August 2011
25	Tea	O-cha	Beverage	Tochigi	8th July 2011
26	Spinach	Horensu	Vegetable	Tochigi	27th April 2011
27	Tea	O-cha	Beverage	Kanagawa	14th October 2011
28	Dried Shiitake	Kanso Shiitake	Mushrooms	Kanagawa	Ongoing
29	Tea	O-Cha	Beverage	Gunma	30th June 2011
30	Spinach	Horensu	Vegetable	Gunma	8th April 2011
31	Beef	Gyuniku	Meat	Miyagi	19th August 2011
32	Beef	Gyuniku	Meat	Iwate	25th August 2011
33	Dried Shiitake	Kanso Shiitake	Mushrooms	Shizuoka	Ongoing
34	Tea	O-cha	Beverage	Tokyo
35	Tea	O-cha	Beverage	Saitama

Guidelines for choosing Vegetables, fruits, grains and dairy products with less contamination:

Some food products catch radiation easily while others do not catch radiation easily.

The food which DO NOT catch radiation easily are listed below :

S.No	Vegetables	Fruits
1	Cabbage	Apple
2	Cucumber	Pear
3	Zucchini	Apricot
4	Tomato	Strawberry
5	Onion	Cherry
6	Paprika/Capsicum/Green Pepper	Raspberry
7	Garlic	Gooseberry
8	Potato
9	Carrot
10	Daikon- Japanese radish
11	Green peas
12	Beans

The food which DO catch radiation easily are listed below :

S. No	Vegetables and Grains	Fruits
1	Wheat	Red gooseberry
2	Rye	Black gooseberry
3	Potato	Blueberry
4	Soybeans	Cranberry
5	Beetroot	Cowberry
6	Corn

Dairy products are easily contaminated. Milk is easily contaminated, as such it is preferable to purchase milk from areas not affected by the nuclear disaster. Dairy products like butter, cheese and fresh cream are less likely to contain radiation due to the higher butterfat content. The top water layer in yogurt can be contaminated easily, as such it is advisable to drain the top water layer before consuming yogurt.

Tips for reducing radiation in food while cooking :

1. Wash, peel and soak vegetables in salted water before boiling. When boiling it is advisable avoid using the broth. When steaming vegetables it is recommended to peel the skin of vegetables. This process is said to reduce the Cesium 137 contamination (if any) by 20-50 %.

2. Soaking mushrooms in salted water for about 20 hours and then rinsing it is said to reduce the radiation level by 28 becquerels/kg.

3. When cooking meat, it is advisable to cut the meat into medium size and soaking it in salted water to which vinegar has been added, for 10-12 hours. Rinse the meat before using. If boiling meat, boil for about 8-10 minutes and drain the water.

For children:

It is recommended to include Apples, Orange marmalade and egg white in the daily diet for children.  Children with high calcium intake and stronger bones  are less likely to get affected by the strontium levels. If possible, children should be given calcium supplement after proper consultation.

Unfortunately most of the information is available only in Japanese. Foreigners like us have to depend on local friends to help us in understanding these. My friend took pains to translate the information from the Japanese website.

With the kind of information available and the measures in place, the situation in Fukushima and Japan, especially with regard to food and radiation is not as grim as it seems.

For further information and updates please visit the website:

http://yasaikensa.cloudapp.net/

Another New Beginning

Almost 2 months since my daughter and I arrived in Japan. Actually, returned to Japan. In the week following the Great East Japan Earthquake, we had returned to India due to the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Nuclear plant. While my husband returned to Japan within a few weeks, we stayed back, mainly due to the concerns of radiation exposure, mainly for kids. With the situation improving, we decided to return to Japan in October.

Fukushima prefecture, where we live, is perhaps the worst affected area in the March 11 disaster. The nuclear fallout changed the life of people living in the prefecture, overnight. Many places continue to remain radiation hot spots and a 20 km zone surrounding the nuclear plants remains a no entry zone.

Life has not changed much here, especially in Iwaki city. People continue to lead a normal life. The city has now become home to about 300,000 migrants from elsewhere in the prefecture. Many people from the evacuation zone near the plant have now moved to Iwaki city, which is about 50 kms from the troubled plant. Many erstwhile vacant spots of land are now filled with temporary housing for these migrant families. It is difficult to find rented apartments or houses in the city, due to the large number of people who have migrated here.

Many families, especially those with infants and young children have moved out of the prefecture to other parts of Japan. In few cases, the male members who are working in Iwaki city or nearby have stayed back, while their families have shifted to other places in the country. Everywhere in the city, we now see banners of “Ganbappe Iwaki” , “Ganbatte Fukushima”,  “Fight for Fukushima”. 

When we returned in October it was in the middle of the academic year. One of our major concerns on returning was being able to secure admission in the kindergarten for our now 4 year old daughter. Kuhonji kindergarten in Iwaki city’s Taira area, was kind enough to accept her even in the middle of the academic year. The kindergarten has an international course and our daughter is happy attending the kindergarten.

Radiation remains to be the concern in most people’s minds in almost all of eastern Japan.

The maximum permissible limit of exposure has been set at 1 millisevert/year  by the Japanese authorities. While the permissible limit remains debatable, the radiation levels are continuously falling. The natural radiation levels in some other countries are higher than the current levels in certain parts of Fukushima prefecture. The radiation levels in Iwaki city are comparatively lesser than many other places in the prefecture. We checked the radiation levels for ourselves with the dosimeter/Geiger which we borrowed from my husband’s company. Some localities have slightly higher radiation levels while others have surprisingly low radiation levels. Since grass and soil seem to have higher radiation levels, kindergartens have been asked to stop all outdoor activity. They compensate for the lack of outdoor activity by teaching the children more indoor activities, games etc. The government is continuously monitoring radiation levels and the city wise radiation levels are telecast alongwith the weather report on national television NHK everyday.

Fukushima prefecture is also conducting a health investigation for all citizens and all people residing in the prefecture. The main aim is to reduce the anxiety over radiation concerns. People who have been in Fukushima prefecture since March 2011 1ill be included in this investigation. As part of the investigation, questionnaires will be mailed to residents. We received our copies in the last week of October. The questionnaire is entirely in Japanese and as such we had to get it filled in with help from our friend. The questions focus on where the residents were since the time the earthquake took place on March 11^th and how much time they have spent outdoors especially during the period March 11^th to March 25^th. Based on the answers, estimate of the possible amount of radiation which the resident’s body has been exposed to will be made. The results will be notified to the residents. School children will also be additionally monitored for the radiation exposure. As the first step, municipalities in Fukushima prefecture have begun handing out dosimeters which the children are required to wear on their body, especially when they go outdoors. This kind of monitoring will be done for about 3 months. Our daughter received her this week.

Additionally certain municipalities are also renting out Digital Dosimeters to expecting parents and parents having children under the age of 3.

 Food and water are being closely monitored too and items which do not pass the safety limit is not allowed to be sold. When we returned to Japan, my friend took us out shopping and showed us what to purchase and what to avoid. She also gave us a sheet with guidelines from the government agency to reduce radiation in food and foods to avoid. Since the website is in Japanese, she took pains to translate it in English for us. I intend to write a separate post on it, so will not include it here.

Apart from the few changes that I have mentioned before, we hardly see any difference in life since the earthquake and nuclear fallout. Like they say, Life goes on.