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Establishing Standards and Requirements for Radioactive Material in Food
Standards and Requirements for Radioactive Material in Food
Overview
Due to the accident that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (Tokyo Electric Power) in March 2011, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare established provisional regulation values for radioactive materials in food in terms of ensuring food safety to regulate that any food in which radioactive material is detected over the provisional regulation values not be eaten and that such food falls under clause 2, article 6 of the Food Sanitation Act.
Food that complies the provisional regulation values has been evaluated as having no effect on human health, generally speaking, thus the safety is ensured. However, in order to ensure further food safety and peace of mind, the Pharmaceutical Affairs and Food Sanitation Council has considered reducing the acceptable dose rate of radioactive cesium found in food from 5 mm in a year to 1 mm in a year as a basis for establishing the new standards and requirements.
As a result, new standard values were established and went into effect on April 1, 2012.
For more information on the basic concept of establishing the standard values, click here (Japanese) (PDF: 1,028 KB)
The new standards and requirements are as follows.
| Food categories | Standard values of radioactive cesium (Bq/kg) | Scope of affected foods |
|---|---|---|
| Drinking water | 10 | Water for drinking directly, water for cooking, and water for drinking tea, which has a strong substitute relationship with water that is directly consumed |
| Food for infants | 50 | - Among food approved to make a representation about a special use according to clause 1, article 26 of the Health Promotion Act, items approved to make the representation “for infants” - Food sold for infants to eat or drink |
| Milk | 50 | Milk (e.g., cow milk, low-fat milk, processed milk) or milk products which are applicable to the ministerial ordinance on ingredient standards for milk and milk products |
| General food | 100 | Food other than the food indicated above |
Related links
Materials at the Sub-committee of Radioactive Contamination Countermeasures, Food Sanitation Committee, Pharmaceutical Affairs and Food Sanitation Council (held on December 22, 2011) (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) (Japanese)Labeling standards for food for infants
Overview
In harmony with the establishment of the new standards and requirements for radioactive materials for food for infants, the labeling standards for food for infants have been provided.The main contents of the labeling standards for food for infants are as follows.
- Food to which the standards and requirements for food for infants are applicable are required to be labeled as “Food covered by the infant standards.”
- However, food which is obvious as food covered by the infant standards are allowed to omit being labeled as food covered by the infant standards. (Provision for omission)
- Food which is not food covered by the infant standards is forbidden to be labeled as food covered by the infant standards or to be labeled with similar representations. (Prohibition of confusing representations)
Related links and materials
For standards or circulars on the Food Labeling Act, click here (Consumer Affairs Agency website) (Japanese)