Thailand Detects Low-Level Radiation In Vegetables From Japan

[george]

Thailand detects low-level radiation in vegetables from Japan

BANGKOK, March 31 - Thailand's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday said a low-level of radiation was found in one kilogramme of vegetables carried by a Thai traveller who returned from Japan.

The agency warned Thai travellers not to take fruit or vegetables from Japan with them due to possible radiation risk contamination in fresh produce.

FDA Secretary-General Dr Pipat Yingseri said the agency has monitored radiation contamination in samples of food imported from Japan since March 15 and on Tuesday radioactive contamination was found in one kilogramme of vegetables carried by the passenger.

The contaminated vegetables were confiscated for the safety of consumers although the level of radiation was well below the safe limit, the FDA chief said.

Dr Pipat also urged those returning from Japan not to import any fruits and vegetables during this period as they may be contaminated by radiation.

The FDA chief reported that as of today, 139 samples of food products imported from Japan have passed the radiation contamination screen at the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP), 122 of them were found to be normal.

The agency has upgraded its monitoring of food imports as the radiation crisis there is worsening, Dr Pipat said.

He also asked for cooperation from importers to be more cautious on the import of food from Japan’s Honshu island, as well as refrain from distributing the products until they receive testing results from the FDA. (MCOT online news).

-- TNA 2011-03-31

[givenall]

Can never trust these statements. i believe if theauthorities don’t claim anything, they feel left out.

[surangw]

I wonder what the levels were before the incident, and if they were even checking on a regular basis

[webfact]

Japanese vegetable contaminated: FDA

By The Nation

Radioactive contamination has been detected in udo - a type of Japanese vegetable -brought into Thailand by Japanese passengers. Thais are advised not to eat it, regardless of the source, the Food and Drugs Administration warned yesterday.

Although the contamination level is within safe limits, eating udo or bringing it back to Thailand is not advised, said FDA secretarygeneral Phiphat Yingseri.

"Those passengers carrying a few kilos of Japanese food may enjoy leniency… but those who carry them in large amounts should be ready for inspection and quarantine," he added.

Except for seafood, FDA officials are ready to inspect and quarantine Japanese food found to be contaminated at supermarkets and restaurants that sell imported food from Japan, he said.

Phiphat called on importers of ingredients from Japan to cooperate with FDA officials visiting their business premises or warehouses.

The FDA has inspected 139 samples of food and ingredients imported from Japan.

Inspections of 122 samples, including a 21tonne lot of skipjack tuna, had been completed by 12.30pm yesterday, and all were found to be safe.

-- The Nation 2011-04-01

[thaihome]

Japanese vegetable contaminated: FDA

By The Nation

....Although the contamination level is within safe limits, eating udo or bringing it back to Thailand is not advised, said FDA secretarygeneral Phiphat Yingseri.

....

-- The Nation 2011-04-01

What is the point of having standards that tell you if it is safe or not if you ignore them if any level of radioactivity is found?

If that is the attitude, perhaps in their zeal to protect citizens from any level of radioactivity, they need to outlaw all medical use and immediately shutdown all coal fired power plants. They both expose people to higher levels of radiation then what is being found in the vegetables confiscated so far. They also need to tell people to stay indoors at all time to prevent any exposure to radiation from the sun.

TH

[katana]

Japanese vegetable contaminated: FDA

By The Nation

....Although the contamination level is within safe limits, eating udo or bringing it back to Thailand is not advised, said FDA secretarygeneral Phiphat Yingseri.

....

-- The Nation 2011-04-01

What is the point of having standards that tell you if it is safe or not if you ignore them if any level of radioactivity is found?

If that is the attitude, perhaps in their zeal to protect citizens from any level of radioactivity, they need to outlaw all medical use and immediately shutdown all coal fired power plants. They both expose people to higher levels of radiation then what is being found in the vegetables confiscated so far. They also need to tell people to stay indoors at all time to prevent any exposure to radiation from the sun.

TH

If you elect to have eg a CAT scan, at least it's your choice which isn't the case if you're eating food which is, unbeknown to you, contaminated.

Also, ingesting or breathing in radioactive particles that come into intimate contact with your body is much more dangerous and not comparable to background alpha, beta and gamma radiation that you might encounter whose source is outside your body.

[khaowong1]

So this means that 17 samples were found not to be safe, correct? Do you think they should try and figure out where those 17 sample originated from? Or is this asking too much of the Thai FDA officials?