Beef, milk, tea, spinach and other vegetables have been contaminated due to the Fukushima nuclear crisis. How much worse do you think this is going to get? For example, do you think rice will be affected?
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46 Comments
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-3
steve@CPFC
All foods will be affected that are in that region. Theer will of course be a large amount of deaths in the coming decades due to radiation in the air and foods.Rice will of course be affected, it takes time to grow and absorbs good and bad. I expect that the true dangers will be hidden from the public to prevent "panic".
Housewives, start buying imported foods and foods from reliable sources. Your children will be the most affected by anything in their foods.
2
some14some
Rice will be no exception, even if it is safe Govt will make it unsafe by importing and mixing contaminated rice from abroad ( like they did last year- Mikasa Food scandal).
2
sillygirl
it`s imported food for me and mine,
2
Pukey2
I wish the supermarkets would offer cucumbers from places other than Fukushima (and Saitama). It amazes me that so many people are still buying Fukushima cucmbers.
As for rice, I've always avoided buying Japanese rice whenever possible.
0
Serrano
This can't possibly get any worse, it can only get better from now on.
3
Maria
What an odd question - why shold rice be exempt? because of its special, magical, Japanese-staple-food powers?
0
tkoind2
We do need to push for greater testing and protections. But the notion that Japan can just buy from abroad is absurd. It cannot happen on the required scale.
If you are really that freaked out and afraid, Narita and other airports are waiting to facilitate your departure.
We need cool, calm heads to enact plans that can really address this.
0
2020hindsights
Oh yes it can and it must if the food is contaminated. Buy rice from the US.
3
Utrack
There are Hot Spots All over some 160km away from Daiichi NPP. Like the tea in Tochigi. Those hot spots are not recorded by J Govt. Professionals are taking it upon themselves to do the research into the matter.
3
Maria
Right. So according to you, our 2 options are suck it up or leave?
I choose to stay, but to avoid buying food which I suspect is contaminated. and if i end up buying only imported food, then that's what I'll do!
0
ihavegreatlegs
I have my Geiger Counter and plan to use it openly in the food stores.
Japanese rice is horrid.
I will stick with Thai
1
TokyoTanuki
Even if rice is affected I am sure that Japanese peoples' mystical 'especially long intestines' will protect them.
3
cleo
Of course rice will be affected. The government needs to either harvest it now and burn it before the farmers have the chance to sneak it onto the market with creative labelling, or plough the immature plants back into the soil and research ways of decontaminating the soil.
As for whether people will buy imported stuff instead - who knows? I remember back when the rice harvest failed in the cold wet summer and the rice was standing covered in black mould in the fields, people were still willing to queue hours and pay over-the-top prices for Japanese rice rather than eat imported rice. Maybe radiation will prove a stronger incentive than mould.
2
Osakadaz
Most milk companies already mix milk from affected areas..especially Yukujirushi Megmilk...more companies will also do so when their factories in Tohoku are fixed, so all dairy will be risky.Vegetables are openly on sale from Fukushima and Tochigi but supermarkets are being crafty.For example, three boxes of tomatoes,with the label saying "product origin written on BOX"... the middle (empty box) facing the outside towards the customer was labelled as Gifu..the two boxes containing the tomatoes had fukushima produce in small letters on the SIDE of the box,out of sight. Any rice that is blended can be sold as kokusan with no origin listed, and the last time I went to the supermarket, this "mixed"rice was predominant. Imagine what will happen if the existing branded rice is bought by northern coops just so that they can blend it and sell their own.Ppl would have no choice but to buy blended rice of dubious engine.Fish is dubious..Sushiro now labels all the origins on their website..interesting was the fish that was labelled as "pacific ocean" ..we all know where the Katsuo is coming from at the moment, but such terminology as Pacific Ocean is obviously an euphemism for Fukushima.Fukushima also produces a lot of pork.Most meat now is already being sold as Kokusan to conceal it"s origin. Soba will be affected, and the barley belt for Japan is basically Tochigi and Ibaraki and they are finding lots of cesium in the barley...which will be then used for barley tea and by all of the beer companies.I am very suspicious of apples from Aomori and most other fruit this year. My family no longer consumes no Japanese meat or fish and (knowingly) no vegies from North of Kansai.I buy cheese and whatever i can from Costco including fruit juices.I intend to use pasta instead of soba etc and have enough rice stockpiled til April when I intend to take my family away from Japan.How bad will it get? Bad enough already but it will get 100 times worse...and there will be a million people telling you "tadachi ni karada ni warui eikyou ha nai" no immediate effects on your health..yeah sure.
0
borscht
It has and it can.
Will the Japanese consumer concede that Fukushima rice might be tainted with radiation, is the real question. I'm pretty sure some will say, never. Some will say, but it's better than rice from (foreign country). And some will say, No way I'm eating rice with radiation. I suspect the first group will be the largest.
But yes, of course rice will be affected. Why would it be exempt? Because it's Japanese rice?
3
Greapper1
Don't be ridiculous! Japanese rice cannot get infused with radiation!
1
ka_chan
The problem is how do you know if something is contaminated or not. Since the Gov isn't doing anything about it, it may be time to get a geiger counter. But they are now hard to get and not cheap. Still it may be better to rely on your own means than trust this government. It's nice that they are researching this but that like researching how hot a fire is while it's burning down you house. The option are pretty simple but since they in no hurry to solve the problem, it can only get worse from a health point of view. Remember that areas in Chenobyl is still so hot that you shouldn't even step on moss some 30 years later.
0
Patrick Smash
The two problems for those outside of Fukushima have always been another earthquake and contamination in food and water. There is no way to know if what we are eating is going to kill us all or not. There is only opinion regarding safe limits. Smoking too carries no immediate health risk. That phrase can only be presumed to mean that the government won't tell us or does not know the effects.
Japan is too small for there not to be an effect. All produce from the most heavily contaminated areas should have been seized and destroyed. But of course nothing happened and instead farmers were politely requested to refrain from poisoning us all. TIJ.
0
deepstar6
Beef, milk, tea, spinach and other vegetables contaminated!! Off course rice will be contaminated. Why limit to just rice? One sould not be surprised if eggs are contaminated too. I worry about infant vaccines made out of eggs getting contaminated. Govt. should be proactive rather than applying a "wait & watch" policy. Its a matter of coming generations (infants & kids) who are the future of this nation.
0
Ivan Coughanoffalot
Of course rice will be affected. It will also be mislabelled as having come from other areas, or mixed with rice from other areas so that its radioactivity will register less.
The government will deny any problem, as J-politicians have been in farmers' pockets for generations, and we will see as timely compensation for victims of their negligence as we did for those haemophiliacs who were given HIV by similar refusal to act on common sense.
And the Coughalot household will be eating Thai rice henceforth.
0
Cos
Months ago, some farmers have already measure radioactivity in growing rice in Niigata (a major producing region). The harvested grain will be contaminated too. I won't buy imported rice at the price it's sold now. If it's get cheaper, sign for a bag of arborio genmai.
1
Patrick Smash
I wonder if the Japanese will think to ease the 700-odd percent tax on imported rice in the wake of this catastrophe in order to keep the population safe. No, thought not.
1
smithinjapan
Rice will most definitely be contaminated, and it will almost certainly enter the food chain in one form or another. Why the fields haven't been plowed already is proof that they intend to go through with the harvest, and why bother unless it's to be sold on the market? At BEST it will be ground up and given to livestock in some kind of food mixture, in which case we'll get it via the livestock. The government won't stop shipment until it's been shipped and people detect high levels of radiation in it. That seems to be the trend, anyway.
1
BurakuminDes
Let them eat bread.
1
kurisupisu
It will get much worse! Why wouldn
t it ? The nature of radioactivity is that it stays in the environment,and stays some more and then a little more. It is already seeping into EVERYTHING.People consume it and then excrete it,your bones (if you stay here long enough) will be radioactive when your grandchild is on his deathbed. The present example of Minamisoma is a precursor of govt intransigence to come.That town is being royally screwed! Take a look on Youtube at the injustices transpiring there I am planning my exit from Japan for the simple reason I dont want cancer 10 years on down the road.It is not a case of what we think but what is JT.
1
tmarie
I went to an event in June where they usually give out T-shirts. What did they give everyone this year? Bags of Fukushima rice - with a whole thing about the tsunami written on it. Um, pardon me but the issue with Fukushima isn't so much the tsunami but the radiation. No one was impressed with it - and I left mine in the hotel. No way in hell am I eating anything from that area if I can help if - thing is, I probably am eating stuff from there as I don't trust the labels here!
0
some14some
made from rice?
0
hatsoff
A lot worse - poor monitoring, deliberate mislabelling, etc.
Hell yes.
0
Teachmeteachyou
I think it will, but as I understand it, the worst contamination is in green plants, like tea or spinach, that absorb many minerals from the air and hold them in their leaves. I'd be more worried about beef or milk from cows that eat such plants/hay left outside.
They really should have destroyed produce from the area rather than be so lenient about it. If governments can be so vigilant about BSE, why not radiation? Living here became a risk as they are mixing it in with everything else, just to save a bit of food and money.
1
Utrack
@ hatsoff
You said a mouthful, No monitoring of some areas that are hot spots.
You should see this ( link below ), Omaemona suggested I watch it and it's very enlightening to whats going on in terms of the food contamination in areas of fukushima and in others like the tea in tochigi.
from Omaemona Watch this recent NHK special [http://bit.ly/mTiWOZ] and it should make anyone realize how the ones who are supposed to be in charge of insuring the public's safety have been asleep at the wheel.
2
hatsoff
@Utrack - thanks for that link. I'll be watching it shortly.
1
Badsey
You can get a small keychain Geiger Counter for <$200 (NukAlert etc).
Any plants from the Northern HemiSphere will have higher radiation levels due to the Fukushima incident. -You may want to buy foods packaged before the Fukushima incident. =Foods even from California will have high radiation levels from this.
=You can't really escape this radiation except move to the southern hemisphere. I would look into taking Zeolite longterm to protect yourself from these random particles. Go out of your way to buy fresh produce that is far away from the affected area. Grow your own.
2
BurakuminDes
Utrack - cheers for the link, that was a good watch. The NHK seemed rather scathing of the Japanese govt. handling of things - which was interesting. And who can blame them - it has been woeful. In terms of testing of foodstuffs and people - Japan really needs to seek advice from the Belarusians ASAP - 25 years after Chernobyl they are taking things more seriously than the Japanese govt. 4 months after the nuclear disaster. Get some Belarusian and Ukrainian experts here NOW!
2
Utrack
@ BurakuminDes
Exactly,
There are Hot spots in areas where you would not have expected them like in tochigi. Looking at the Chernobyl incident and how the Belarusians are seriously looking out for their people with radiation food testing equipment in EVERY school and they test their children to make sure they are as safe as can be. 20% of their budget goes to this. It's really good that their Govt cares.
1
BurakuminDes
PS - the Fukushima city elementary school featured on that NHK report is only a 2 minute walk from my apartment, which certainly brings things close to home. Glad we don't have kids just yet...
1
BurakuminDes
Spot on Utrack. If a country like Belarus - GDP per capita $5,800 - can devote resources like that to keeping their kids safe, the Japanese government have no excuse to continue burying their heads in the sand over a disaster they created.
3
oberst
label all Japanese rice as import from foreign countries, if anything bad happens down the road, then blame it on those damn foreign imports !!
2
NetNinja
@BurakauminDes
If you live that close you might not have kids at all.
Food contamination? Yeah, pretty much everything. That's why I'm eating USDA Choice. Sad I have to shop at Costco for everything but I will in order to be safe. Anyway, it's good that the money will go back to the U.S.
I remember Japan's beef ban. Yep, now it's Japan's turn. Japan just landed on Boardwalk and it's got a hotel on it. Time to pay. It will take time to inspect all of Japan's exports......while it's sitting on the docks it may spoil but we have to test it. There's no rushing radiation and contamination checks.
1
whiskeysour
rice ????? It`s already affected !!!!! Everything is infected !!!!!
Just deal with it accordingly
0
BurakuminDes
@ Net Ninja - making plans to get out, sadly not many people (or me) have any faith in Japanese authorities. The area is not a place to raise kids - in my opinion, it is equivalent to child abuse. The alarming thing is how many parents seem dismissive of the whole danger and allow their kids to play as normal outside. I've even heard a few refer to the radiation threat as "foreign rumours".
2
Osakadaz
BurakuminDesu> that is deeply disturbing but reflects the greater apathy apparent in the Japanese population (and a great number of foreign residents). The Mass media has basically gone back to attacking people's minds with banal TV, the papers and news are being very middle of the road and the government are a) creating rubbery figures for safe produce and residential areas b) complicit in trying to force dirty food down people"s necks whilst proclaiming to the worl that Japan is safe and c) Tepco is..well..Tepco is. Reality is that more that 75% of food is NOT being tested (even from Fukushima), the population are rightly ashamed of both the govt and the national policies towards radiation and have just about given up because they have nowhere to go an no alternative but to eat what is in the shops...they have forgotten how to get angry and really make the government listen.There has been a determined effort to project this as minor and it has worked because the mass media and govt know how gullible and easily hoodwinked the population here is.
1
Farmboy
Well, NHK has an article today, "Contaminated rice straw found in 10 prefectures." One would assume if the straw is contaminated, the rice can't be in such good shape, can it?
1
Farmboy
PS: The contaminated straw came from Miyagi prefecture, by the way. We'll probably have some good sales on Japanese beef in the coming months, since this stuff fed a lot of cattle.
1
Utrack
Geiger Counters are seriuosly needed if purchasing foodstuff grown/ raised in like 1/3 of Japan.
High levels of radioactivity found extensively
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/21_06.html
Excerpt:
Radioactive cesium far above the government standard was detected in rice straw for cattle feed collected by a supplier in Kurihara City.
Contaminated rice straw found in 10 prefectures
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/21_05.html
Excerpt :
Inspectors on Wednesday detected 7 times the government-set maximum standard level of radioactive cesium in rice straw used by a farm in Shizuoka Prefecture. This pushes the number of prefectures where cattle were fed with contaminated straw to 10.
0
tmarie
Everything but the people need to be banned from the area. Suggest the people get out, stop selling their possibly contaminated food and products and clean up the mess.
Yes, I am also having a kick out of Japan getting upset with countries not wanting their food after the mad cow, gyoza... issues and gaikoku food being kowaiiiiii!
0
globalwatcher
My answer is that it will be worse, unfortunately. You cannot contain Nuke.
More proactive J. Gov involvement is required.
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