Safety of food from Japan

(Last updated December 2011)

The testing of food from Japan is a precautionary measure and is consistent with international approaches.

FSANZ remains of the view that the risk of Australian consumers being exposed to radionuclides in food imported from Japan is negligible. Milk and fresh produce are not imported into Australia, while imports of seaweed and seafood represent a very small proportion (5.5% and 0.46% respectively) of Australia’s total imports of these products.

Since the nuclear safety situation emerged in Japan, FSANZ has advised the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) Biosecurity (formerly the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service [AQIS]) to test some foods from Japanese prefectures before allowing the products to be released for sale. This advice is based on testing by the Japanese and Singapore Governments that has found radionuclide levels above Codex guideline levels in some foods.

FSANZ’s current advice to DAFF Biosecurity is that:

Iodine ¹³¹is no longer a potential concern given it significantly deteriorates within eight days and because there have been no detections in food since early June 2011.
a reduction in the number of prefectures on the DAFF Biosecurity list is appropriate.
rice, other cereals and tea have been added to the list of foods to test.

Caesium ¹³⁴,¹³⁷ – which deteriorates over many years – will continue to be tested in some food from Japan.

Fresh, dried and frozen fruit and vegetables, rice, cereals, seafood and seaweed from the prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Saitama, Tokyo, Yamagata, Tochigi and Chiba will be tested for Caesium ¹³⁴,¹³⁷ .

Tea from Chiba, Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Miyagi, Saitama, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokyo and Yamagata will also be tested for Caesium ¹³⁴,¹³⁷ .

Testing will ensure levels of Caesium ¹³⁴,¹³⁷ in these foods are below internationally accepted safe limits before they are available for sale in Australia.