Food Law News - UK - 2011

FSA News Item, 7 April 2011

CONTAMINANTS - Japanese radiation update

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 link below.

Food imported to the European Union from Japan is undergoing extra checks in addition to the routine monitoring of imported food that takes place.

For related EU News Items, see:

• 25 March 2011 CONTAMINANTS - EFSA is closely monitoring the recent incident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in the northeast of the country on 11 March 2011
• 24 March 2011 CONTAMINANTS - Food safety: the EU reinforces controls on imports from Japan