Food Safety News – April 2011
Food Safety and Radiation from Japan
As a result of the increasing concern surrounding the nuclear power plant at Fukushima, Japan, many countries including the USA, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada and Russia have placed import restrictions on food from Japan.
Only imports 0.1% of the food imported into the UK comes from Japan, which is mainly fish and shellfish. Japan has placed restrictions on the sale of food from areas around Fukushima, so preventing the export from Japan of affected foods.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is having ongoing discussions with the Japanese food authorities, as well as other national food safety authorities and is sharing information and intelligence.
The FSA is working with port health authorities and other Government departments to ensure that food imports from Japan, mainly fish and shellfish, are screened for the presence of radioactive material. Any food that is found to have levels of radiation above the legal limits will be prevented from entering the country.
Food safety advice has been provided to British nationals and visitors in Japan through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. More information can be found on their website here. Further information is listed by the Food Standards agency here.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) also offers advice for those concerned about the risk of radiation from the Japanese disaster.
In the UK the Health Protection Agency has calculated that on average people are exposed to about 2.7 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation a year. A millisievert is a measure of radiation dose which accounts for the fact that ionising radiation can affect different parts of the body to differing degrees. The millisievert dose also allows for the different effects of different types of radiation, x rays, gamma rays, neutrons, alpha particles and beta particles.
At present the HPA advise that any radiation from Japan that could potentially reach the United Kingdom would be miniscule and no threat to people's health. Calculations from radiation levels detected in the USA suggest that any increase in radiation would be less than 1/10,000 of that received from eating a packet of brazil nuts.
Comparison of doses from sources of exposure
Source of Exposure |
Dose |
Dental X-ray |
0.005 mSv |
135g bag of Brazil nuts |
0.01 mSv |
Chest X-ray |
0.02 mSv |
Transatlantic flight |
0.07 mSv |
Nuclear power station worker average annual exposure |
0.2 mSv |
UK annual average radon dose |
1 mSv |
CT scan of the head |
1.4 mSv |
UK average annual radiation dose |
2.7 mSv |
USA average annual radiation dose |
6.2 mSv |
CT scan of the chest |
6.6 mSv |
Average annual radon dose to people in Cornwall |
7.8 mSv |
Whole body CT scan |
10 mSv |
Annual exposure limit for nuclear industry employees |
20 mSv |
Level at which changes in blood cells can be readily observed |
100 mSv |
Acute radiation effects including nausea and a reduction in white blood cell count |
1000 mSv |
Dose of radiation which would kill about half of those receiving it in a month |
5000 mSv |
No radiation in Scottish milk
As of the 7th April 2011 the latest information from the Food Standards Agency is that following reports that radiation from Fukushima has been detected in the UK, the Food Standards Agency can confirm that levels are far too low to cause any concerns over the safety of any food in the UK.
There is a possibility that minute levels of iodine-131 could land on grass and be consumed by cows - but at these levels there is no food safety risk. Minute amounts of iodine-131 could also settle on the surface of vegetables but this will not cause any food safety concerns and will soon decay or be washed away.
Analysis of milk samples taken in Scotland did not detect any iodine-131. Environmental sample results are available on the Health Protection Agency website at the HPA by following this link.
Please call us on 01727 866779 or email info@hygieneauditsystems.com for more information
