Traces of radioactive cesium found in Meiji baby formula

Absolutely shocking. BABY POWDER. Below the limit or not, no parent is going to fee their baby tainted powder knowingly. On the flip side it is honorable by Meiji to check, announce and recall their produce. If the powder was tainted 200 km from the plant, then this only reinforces my hardened resolve not to consume anything from the tofuku region.unfortunately, I think we have all eaten the radiation in small doses at least.

this is not baby powder. it is powdered formula - consumed internally as in drink. OMG. but kudos for the recall. things don`t aways need to swept under the carpet.

Terry Tibbs:

You can not "eat radiation".

Well well, no surprise here - Meiji must have sensed they were in a no win situation and played the only card they had - a little cynical -- I know but sorry, this last 8 months has been a bit tough up here. While we are on the subject of children, my wife just told me that TEPCO just announced the value of putting a child at risk. They will pay 400,000 yen per child in Fukushima, 80,000 per adult, whether they moved or not. Not sure on the details yet, but that is the price. Of course, nothing to be paid to our communities in the very south of Miyagi. So it is already a pittance, unless it is a small token payment for inconvenience cause and they will then pay 200x that as a final settlement, excluding private health costs for the next 10 generations, so as to not burden the tax payer further, no local or national taxes until everything is cleared up, retraining and resettlement support for the youth, lifetime psychological counseling, education system to teach the children how to deal with societal prejudice, especially when they come to marry or their children's children do and so on - a little bit naive-- I know but sorry, this last 8 months has been a bit tough up here.

I'm gonna go with praising Meiji this time, as I think they did the honorable thing here. They found contamination was under the government limit but still should ABSOLUTELY should NOT be there, and they chose to do the right thing disregarding possible short time effects on the stock market.

There will be no working food safety procedures if companies feel they have to hide things like this.

Also I don't even know why there is a cesium level of 200Bq/kg for baby food, it is not supposed to be there at all, so the limit should be same as the detectable limit.

I saw this on NHK last night. They funnel the air from the outside, through filters, to dry the powder. That's how they believe the contamination occurred. I'm glad they have recalled the stuff, even if they really had no other choice. I do wonder how long this batch has been on the shelves though. A smiling (independent) doctor appeared after this report patronisingly telling parents there was no need to worry since the amounts were very small. It seemed terribly blase, but maybe they edited things and cut her off short.

The 200Bq/kg is so open to debate. Chiyoda-Ku local govt announced on their website 2 weeks ago they found 11Bq/KG in milk a childcare institution was feeding their kids. They said the safety limit for kids is 10Bq/KG so does this 200Bq/kg only apply to adults?

hatsoff - I think I saw the same news report as you - irritating, wasnt she??!

However, I also have to join those saying they are impressed by Meiji. They could have covered it up, or even done nothing - it was under the allowable limit. But they have behaved responsibly and honourably in this I believe.

We have always used Meiji milk, and I had to contact them recently regarding another one of their products and radiation. The guy I spoke to went to great lengths in Japlish to make sure I understood the manufacturing process, the sources of all the ingredients, and the radiation risks. He went above and beyond and I was really grateful for his help and honesty. They really do seem to be a good company in my experience.

So scared with 1.3 years old child, who knows about MORINAGA CHIRU MIRU..??

Did Meiji discovered it or someone else? Does anyone know?

Any news about other brand ? Like Morinaga ?

yikes, that is not good news. I wonder how many companies have detected similar but keeping it under wraps :S

Meiji probably knows & kept silent about it. Sound like Olympus hiding those missing Yen... so what's new?

There is still no proven evidence about what levels my harm someone. This even applies to people spending 6 months at a time on the international space station.

As some of you may remember, there was a case back in 1955 involving Morinaga powdered milk. Over 12,000 infants got arsenic poisoning of which 130 died. Arsenic was found in the disodium hydrogen phosphate which they used as an additive.

I must admit, this a brave and bold step taken by Meiji. Even though they'll lose a lot of money for the recall and stocks price drop, they still pushed through the recall of the product.

The question now is: are the other Meiji products being tested as well? If the radiation came from the air used to dry the milk, it would be logically possible for the same air to have passed through some other products.

And how long has this stuff been on the market since the meltdown? and how much has been consumed by INFANTS?? I have absolutely NO doubt that the raw materials came from cheap sales of stuff they couldn't peddle elsewhere (ie. coming out of Fukushima itself). This country is going to be plagued by cancer like few countries, if any, have ever seen.

Meiji did not, I repeat did not do the initial testing. A 3rd party group did the test and told Meiji.

Meiji would have no trouble hiding the truth and continue selling knowing that the limits they set were broken. They only came out because they had no choice and info would have been leaked anyway.

Meiji will most likely start increasing sales to developing (under developed) countries although products have already been recalled from China.

As for some other companies they will not even tell you the figures if they are under 20Bq and others under 200Bq.

I have absolutely NO doubt that the raw materials came from cheap sales of stuff they couldn't peddle elsewhere (ie. coming out of Fukushima itself).

Boy, for all the products that JT posters allege to contain materials from the Fukushima area, Fukushima must produce about 245% of the nations agricultural output.

Good to see that Meiji did the right thing even though it will really hurt their business. Need to see more of this sort of responsibility. Hopefully the amounts present aren't enough to have any health impact on the poor babies who may have consumed the formula. Unfortunately it will probably be impossible to know for sure...

Of course they didn't fess up themselves. They got sprung and now they are back peddling. Why would they fess up.....their stock tanked yesterday and nobody will buy their product again for at least 6 months (until they all forget). Every food processing or farm within 200km (or more) of that plant is at risk depending on luck (wind direction, rain falls, debris burning, whetever else). If they get sprung they pay the price. They have probably been selling that product in that state since March.

I doubt that even those doing the testing are reporting everything to the media. It depends on how it leaks out. These guys were unlucky.

What is the chance that the only contaminated product is a baby formula? Wow, I hope the government gets serious about cancer research really quick.

@smithinjapan, according to Meiji, the raw materials are from Australia and Hokkaido before 3.11

http://www.meiji.co.jp/notice/2011/detail/20111206_fig2.html

How the baby formula got contaminated. That's why I want to know.

This is nothing to worry about it. The cesium was everywhere in the air around that time. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The baby formula got contaminated through the hot air drying process--hot air was the culprit. So if it's in the air, it's in everything already.

How did a factory in Stamina get infected? I hope there is some sort of investigation!!!!

Anything else contaminated? Not only from Meiji but other companies products? It seems more and more foods lately are being discovered with some form of radiation in them. Maybe it's time they are tested before distributing. Hopefully no babies or children are affected by this!

marcelito,

The safe limit for infants is zero...period , no discussion...no doubt every parent would agree.

You make me laugh.

Do you want to wrap the little ones in lead suits to stop back ground radiation?

Coat them with zinc to stop the sun? Please get real. 0 is a no sum game that is impossible to do.

The level of contamination ranged from 22 to 31 becquerels per kilogram, compared with the 200-becquerel legal limit, Meiji said.

What am I missing here?

@MaboDofuIsSpicy

There is a vast difference between "background radiation" and "internal radiation exposure". Human body has different tolerance levels for both cases.

If they tested ALL food, they would most likely find some radioactive cesium in everything.

Babies sucking up cesium is beyond the pail. too upsetting this harsh reality and I don't believe for one minute that they are the only company serving children contaminated foodstuff.

Terrible news but we always knew this to be true. Everything has been radiated as a result of TEPCO's Nuclear meltdown.

I can't really speak my mind here. I just hope you all realize who to point the finger at.

oh~ snap. @gogogo yeah how did it get there?o?

Support Fukushima doesn't get my vote... this is criminal tepco.

Good on Meiji for being honest. The government and TEPCO have a lot to learn from this.

Only reason Meiji is being "honest" is because they got busted by joe-blow doing his own testing. They would not have let anyone know otherwise. So, no, I don't have much praise for them.

According to local news reports, a citizens group in Fukushima first detected the radiation in Meijis baby formula and pressed the company for tests.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/world/asia/cesium-found-in-japanese-baby-formula.html

Ok, so the meltdown was 8 months ago. They have only just detected cesium in the formula. However, the article fails to state when this tainted formula was produced. If it was produced directly after the meltdown then there should be a relaxed response. However, if this stuff was produced recently the alarm bells should be clanging loudly. Firstly because it means that large amounts have already been consumed. Secondly because it means the fallout is still quiyye strong and spread over a large area.

Saw this yesterday on Yahoo and thought "JT posters are going to have a field day when this gets translated"

I'm not a nuclear hysteric that believes any radiation automatically equals a cancer death sentence (I laugh at people who complain about radiation but continue to smoke), but i certainly wouldnt want to feed this to my child.

Seems we have a LOT of food being tested these days though. How long before we start seeing "radiation free" certification stickers on foods sold in supermarkets? I'd pay more tax to see something like that implemented.

I am surprised that people nowadays still use baby formula when breast feeding is supposed to be so much better.

pawatan: "Good to see that Meiji did the right thing even though it will really hurt their business."

As one poster stated already, Meiji did not do the initial testing and only came forward because the knowledge was going to become public anyway. Had the independent group not done the testing we would be none-the-wiser and the products would likely still be on the shelves. Saying they 'did the right thing' is like saying Kikukawa did the right thing in announcing Olympus lied and used investors money to cover expenses after their denial was proven to be false and the whistle long blown. No more Meiji products for me.

Bloody hypocrisy...

Everybody here seems to agree that the 22 to 31 Bequerel/kg radiation in the milk powder is somehow scandalous. But is it? The figure of 22-31 makes no sense without a comparison to baseline natural radiation in Japan. There is no place on earth where the natural radation is 0. Does not exist, period. I could not quickly find a radiation table for Japan, but here are the figure for Germany:

Milk: 40 to 60 Bq/l Vegetables: 30 to 150 Bq/kg Fruit: 30 to 150 Bq/kg Nuts: 180 to 270 Bq/kg Beef: 50 to 150 Bq/kg Pork: 30 to 140 Bq/kg Chicken: 40 to 130 Bq/kg Honey: 30 to 200 Bq/kg

Again, that is NATURAL radiation, without any power plant.

So, is the 22 to 31 that was measured by Meji that sensational? Just what is the natural radiation in Japan?

Meiji did not do the initial testing and only came forward because the knowledge was going to become public anyway.

Smith, do you have to be negative about every damn thing? And contrary to me on everything? It was caught, they reacted the way they should have. Considering they use components from Australia and Hokkaido (NOT Fukushima as you so very foolishly said) why would they think there might be a radiation issue?

Saying they 'did the right thing' is like saying Kikukawa did the right thing in announcing Olympus lied and used investors money to cover expenses after their denial was proven to be false and the whistle long blown.

Completely ridiculous comparison and you know it. Olympus was malfeasance. Only but the most negative commentator would fault Meiji for their reaction.

No more Meiji products for me.

I'm sure they are truly worried about what JT poster "smithinjapan" thinks.

zichi:

" This is not the kind of story mother's want to be reading. The acceptable level of radiation in any food should be zero, but at least that should be true for baby formula. "

So can you tell us any place on earth where the level of radiation in food has ever been zero?

Natural cesium radiation for baby formula is zero becquerels, I'm afraid.

Radiation is naturally everywhere...

Meiji, a major producer of milk, confectionery and pharmaceuticals, said it was recalling some 400,000 cans of Meiji Step

And as a next step Japan recalls 400,000 babies who already consumed it, for it causes genetic mutation, and then they can go on recalling all Japan, unless radioactive cesium works out differently and the whole country becomes a "Fantastic Four" by producing a fantastic genetically modified bright new generation.

Presently, as it seems to me Japanese suppliers and TEPCO are busy spreading the contamination. Loyalty and honesty, words that hardly ever heard. With friends like them, who needs enemy?

Japan has so many talents, can outshine any of their worst enemies if it comes to the question of who can cause bigger harm.

I have to ask, why is it not detected before it leaves the production line/factory? Why is it always detected after being sold in a supermarket???

That's no good news for everybody isn't it ? i think we know that the source of the this trouble is not just Meiji company!! we should think about the problem of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant!!! it's our problem!!! how can we change this Japanese big problem? what Japanese politicinan doing?

what do you think about it?

Well, I refuse to give up my Meiji 'Bulgarian' in the morning. Cesium or no cesium.

0 Bq/Kg or 0 Bq/L purity is impossible to achieve because no such devices exists capable of detecting contamination wihout any minimum detection limit. So if a device says cesium "Not detectable" it does not mean there is no cesium. It means that it could not detect radiation below its threshold limit (ex. 5 Bq/Kg).

@theResident: I'm with you there. Maybe the price will come down now..won't stop me buying their stuff anyway.

I am surprised that people nowadays still use baby formula when breast feeding is supposed to be so much better.

How can you be so sure about breast milk is not contaminated? Mothers produces breast milk from what they eat, and what environment they are exposed to.

Wow it's baby's formula milk. What's next????? I hope and pray, NUKE Power Plants will ceased to be use as the source of energy all over Planet Earth.

Horrified:

" cesium radiation "

And what exactly is "cesium radiation"? I thought radiation is classified according to the wavelength, and not the isotope is emitted from. Can you explain?

Breast milk can be quite contaminated especially if you eat a lot of tuna fish, do drugs, smoke, and drink. And if you got rained on in Japan, more than likely you have cesium in your breast milk too. Gambatte ne.

Should have said, "Naturally occurring radiation from radioisotopes such as cesium 137 does not exist. Especially in baby formula."

I don't understand the "shocking" comments here at all. Do you plan to be shocked every time a radioactive contamination is being found in foodstuffs? It is very clear that we are already eating, drinking and maybe even breathing, radioactive material. I personally do not think it will hurt me, that's why I came to Japan in October despite the accident. But people who are so sensitive as to think they must never let a single particle of radioactive substances into their bodies, I ask, what are you still doing here? You should have fled the country in March.

I am not trying to scare anyone - but I thought we were all on the same page on this - the stuff is out there - let's man up a little, everybody.

If I am not mistaken Meiji decided not to test any of their products for radiation contamination post 3/11 disaster. Furthermore, they have changed their labels on their milk pack as below.

http://ameblo.jp/ooruri777/image-10953998375-11350861801.html

HansNFranz

I don't think people are shocked by experiencing radioactive contamination here, as long as it is within the inevitable. But get shocked when it is within the scoop of professional negligence, carelessness, lack of supervision i.e. within the avoidable.

I would dearly love to know when they knew this and what are the batch codes and dates of production as we have been buying this product for our baby, trusting it is safe.......... Not anymore

according to Meiji, the raw materials are from Australia and Hokkaido before 3.11 Honto nee !! Oh come on, ateast use fresh raw materials for infant food.

Sorry my bad.

according to Meiji, the raw materials are from Australia and Hokkaido before 3.11

Honto nee !! Oh come on, ateast use fresh raw materials for infant food

Probably has something to do with all the spraying in the skies :) Nah, of course not. That'd be silly. Keep believing them press releases.

horrified:

" Naturally occurring radiation from radioisotopes such as cesium 137 does not exist. "

There most certainly exists naturally occurring radiation from radioisotopes. Maybe not cesium 137 (I did not check that) but from plenty of others. Again, the values for Bequerel/kg given here for the Maiji baby milk do not seem particularly high at. Google e.g. for bananas, and you find that 1 banana has 15 Bequerel on average. Not per kg. So should we all go bananas about bananas?

@WilliB

I googled it and look what I found out.

Critics, including the EPA,[9] pointed out that the amount of potassium (and therefore of 40K) in the human body is fairly constant because of homeostasis,[10] so that any excess absorbed from food is quickly compensated by the elimination of an equal amount.[1][11]

Humans have a mechanism to compensate for excess of bananas, but not cesium.

@deepstar6:

I googled it and look at what I found out.

" Cesium can be taken into the body by eating food, drinking water, or breathing air. After being taken in, cesium behaves in a manner similar to potassium and distributes uniformly throughout the body. .(...) Clearance from the body is somewhat quicker for children and adolescents. This means that if someone is exposed to radioactive cesium and the source of exposure is removed, much of the cesium will readily clear the body along the normal pathways for potassium excretion within several months. "

So, cesium in the body behaves basically like potassium. So again I wonder: Why is nobody going bananas over bananas? At app. 150 Bequerel/kg, they contain 5 times as much radiation as the dreaded Meiji baby milk.

@Revhead: from what I remember on the news last night, the batch was made on March 15th (which is why they believe it was air contamination - the product itself had already been purchased in Hokkaido and Australia prior to 3/11) and the contaminated batches have best-before dates stamped on them of around 22 - 27 October 2012. Check the website for more details but I think this is roughly what they said. Hope it helps.

HansNFranz: Well said. Thank you bringing some sense to this thread.

@Nicky Washida: thanks for the info

@WilliB

Why is nobody going bananas over bananas?

Potassium is required to sustain biological processes by humans. I am sure this does not hold true for cesium and therefore going bananas over bananas is bananas.

The banana radiation argument has been debunked over and over again in Radiation 101. Please google it properly and find the answer you're missing. (and have a banana while you do so.) Or not -- your choice. Your lack of understanding of it just serves to undermine your opinion on the matter.

Cesium-137 is not naturally occurring and is not good for babies to be ingesting. It is not the same as potassium, either. A nine-month old baby should not be eating any cesium or any other radioactive matter discharged from a nuclear plant or an atmospheric bomb test.

deepstar6:

" Potassium is required to sustain biological processes by humans. I am sure this does not hold true for cesium and therefore going bananas over bananas is bananas. "

There are other sources of potassium than bananas. So why is not an issue for you that the potassium in bananas has 5-6 times as much radioactivity as that horrible Meiji baby milk?

WilliB - No wait! You're exactly right about everything (as usual!) Somebody please get on the phone with the Meiji execs and tell them to stop the recall. It's just a silly misunderstanding over bananas!

horrified:

Their recall is of course for PR reasons. I am still wondering what the brouhaha here was about. What exactly is the natural radiation in baby milk powder? Nobody has told yet. It certainly is not zero, that is for sure.

Nicky, I also watched the news last night and I believe they mentioned March 14th.

hereforenow:

So what is the expected natural radiation in baby formula? Nobody has told yet. All the strongly opinionated commentator pontificate here on the basis of a figure that nobody has put into context.

herefornow -- Yes, Japanese are typically reactive and not proactive. We will do the least that is necessary to keep the consumers happy. While Japan does indeed have some of the best service, quality, speed and safety records, it is a myth to say they did not do that because the consumers came to expect that. When competitors offer the same or better it creates an upwards spiral which is a great thing, but in hard times you expect companies to cut corners and try to keep bad publicity to a minimum. Japan is built on the fact that nobody want to take responsibility for ones actions which is why you want to pass something around as much as possible and spread the responsibility. When something does go wrong you then have plenty of people to blame and makes it very hard to point the finger at one person or organization. This is also the reason why it take 10 times longer to do anything in Japan no matter how simple it is.

WilliB -- The expected back ground radiation for powdered milk should be less than 1 becquerels

http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=KRVXMiQWi0cC&lpg=PA7&ots=eTHgNQWP9t&dq=natural%20background%20becquerels%20milk&hl=ja&pg=PA52#v=snippet&q=milk&f=false

This PDF should be easier to read http://www.survivalring.org/tb2kfriends/UN-RadFalloutSoilsCropsFood.pdf

According to Meiji, they did sample test and found Cs134 and Cs137 from the product (expiration date of Oct. 4, 21, 22, and 24, 2012. There was no Cs134 and Cs137 found from other products (expiration date of Sep. 4, 2012 through Apr.10,2013).

http://www.meiji.co.jp/notice/2011/detail/20111206_fig2.html

In late November, a mother from Fukushima asked NPO TEAM Nihonmatsu to check MEIJI Step. The NPO found Cesium and told KYODO News. KYODO News asked MEIJI for information. MEIJI said they checked the level of Cesium on March 21 when it was said to be the highest radiation level found in Kasukabe Saitama. No Cesium was found then, so MEIJI thought it was safe. Later on however, Meiji has said there is a high likelihood that the products in question were contaminated when outside air taken in through filters was used to dry the skim milk at the factory from March 14-20.

http://mainichi.jp/photo/archive/news/2011/12/06/20111207k0000m040037000c.html

NPO Nihonmatsu has checked other products and found Cesium in some other milk. (the detail is on the web site) They say they will check more products and keep us posted.

http://team-nihonmatsu.r-cms.biz/blog_detail/blog_id=2&id=13

I remember watching on NHK or FNN days after the Fukushima accident how people in Hong Kong and China were hoarding Japanese baby formula or skim milk. They saw this coming a mile away, or should I say months away. Why couldn't Meiji, or all Japanese for that matter, not see this coming??? I'm tired of their denial. They should be proactively testing for contamination as they produce stuffs.

WilliB, I have to concede that 31bq/kg is a small amount. For those who fed their babies this formula, I wouldn't worry - also because worrying won't change anything now, anyways.

I would be proactive about choosing a replacement, however. There are some food vendors selling checked formula online in Japan. More than anything, this has shown everyone it could easily be the case for many types of food we take for granted. Also, it shows there is more going on than we realize with the milk industry in Japan which has protested having milk checked: http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/news/111129/tky11112918080017-n1.htm

This should be a red flag for everyone.

I don't have a link, but I read many times that a percentage of cesium is considered to remain in the body (not distributed evenly) for a period of years. Apparently it does damage while it is in our bodies, and more than K-40 which comes from bananas. Also, cesium can accumulate while K-40 does not. So, while this is a small amount, if Japan cannot get more industrial transparency happening in the food sector, then there will be some sick teenagers in a few years. Because we are not just talking about baby formula.

the probelm is that we do not havedata to base our urguments. Everybody knows that the moment you produce nuclear energy, there will be some leakage of radio active material in the atmosphere, but it is usually never told. What we should have known is: what was thelevel of radio actiive material in the food before the daiichi incident, and what has been the increase? is the increase substancial as to cause alarm? otherwise at this rate, we might find no food to eat in Japan, if this kind of scare-mongering goes on!!!!!

Unless the mom is sick or otherwise incapacitated she is the best source of food for her baby. But this is Japan and I'm sure that they are flogging formula as being beneficial. Maybe there is a silver lining to this cloud?

The 200Bq/kg is so open to debate. Chiyoda-Ku local govt announced on their website 2 weeks ago they found 11Bq/KG in milk a childcare institution was feeding their kids. They said the safety limit for kids is 10Bq/KG so does this 200Bq/kg only apply to adults?

Each country has upper limits on the maximum Bq/kg on Cesium based on food categories. For instance, EU has an upper limit of 400Bq/kg for infant food. and Codex has an upplimit as much as 1000 bq/kg.

Unless the mom is sick or otherwise incapacitated she is the best source of food for her baby. But this is Japan and I'm sure that they are flogging formula as being beneficial. Maybe there is a silver lining to this cloud?

What a mind-bogglingly uninformed comment on so many levels.

a) There are many other reasons why it may be necessary to use exclusively or supplement with formula. b) Japan has one of the highest breastfeeding rates in the developed world- more than 90% of women are breastfeeding their babies when they get home from the hospital/clinic- this is more than double the rate in some parts of the US. c) Japan does not "flog formula" as superior to breastfeeding- see b). d) This formula is for babies 9 months and older, not newborns. While a significant number of women in Japan breastfeed past one year, no baby is exclusively breastfed at 9 months, they have started eating solid food, and 9 months is a perfectly respectable length of time to breastfeed as not everyone wants to continue past then for various reasons. e) as for the "silver lining", I'm sure this has made most breastfeeding mothers in Japan wonder just what the radiation level of their own breastmilk might be.

cwhite:

" The expected back ground radiation for powdered milk should be less than 1 becquerels http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=KRVXMiQWi0cC&lpg=PA7&ots=eTHgNQWP9t&dq=natural%20background%20becquerels%20milk&hl=ja&pg=PA52#v=snippet&q=milk&f=false "

Thanks for the reference, but I do not see that from your source. Table XV shows only Cesium 137, however it does not mention the total expected natural radiation. Again, when I google for natural radiation in food in other countries, I see values from around 30 to 150 Bq/kg. NEVER zero, which seems to be the assumption by many here.

We do not live in a radiation-free environment on this planet.

nigelboy:

" Each country has upper limits on the maximum Bq/kg on Cesium based on food categories. For instance, EU has an upper limit of 400Bq/kg for infant food. and Codex has an upplimit as much as 1000 bq/kg. "

Thanks for the information. Kind of puts ther 20-31 Bq/kg of this article in perspective.

I wonder how many of you guys (especially mothers) who want absolutely 0 becquerel foodstuffs are, or even just have been, smokers?

So many irrelevant arguments. This is plain unacceptable. They got busted from an outside source. Add to the UNEASE of the people ... it should be outrage. Boycott all products from Gunma, Tochigi, Saitama, Miyagi, Chiba, and of course Fukushima. I'm afraid we can't trust any of these places.

@the 100 / 200 / 300 / 400 / 500oBq et al crowd: Over the long term the acceptability of radioactively contaminated food products and soil has to be based on an estimate of lifetime health risk and the number of persons likely exposed, rather than a safe/not safe concentration threshold. The latter implies that there is a concentration below which there is no concern for future risk from exposure, regardless of the number of people involved. The excess lifetime risk from exposure to ionizing radiation is known to vary considerably with the dose, age at time of exposure, and gender. I believe that informed decisions would be more appropriately based on a discussion of the health risks from potential exposure to radiation rather than a simple comparison to a regulatory concentration threshold. Not some theorized magic numbered percentage that people keep grabbing onto and floating around on and JUST in case you didn't catch it, this is for BABIES. You know? Babies. And those who STILL do not the difference between internal and external emitters, get with the program and THEN comment as an INFORMED contributer to the discussion.

Yong Yan:

It is admirable that you know how to copy-paste, but please don´t triple-post the same message. Thank you.

That's no good news for everybody isn't it ? I think we know that the source of the this trouble is not just Meiji company!! We should think about the problem of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant!!! It's our problem!!! How can we change this Japanese big problem? What Japanese politician doing?

what do you think about it?