Japan Selling Radioactive Tea?

Is Japan Selling Radioactive Tea?

Radioactive cesium exceeding the legal limit was detected in tea made in a factory in Shizuoka City, more than 300 kilometers away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Shizuoka Prefecture is one of the most famous tea producing areas in Japan.

A tea distributor in Tokyo reported to the prefecture that it detected high levels of radioactivity in the tea shipped from the city. The prefectural government confirmed the contamination on Thursday, detecting 679 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium. The legal limit is 500 becquerels.

The prefecture ordered the factory to refrain from shipping out the product.

After the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, radioactive contamination of tea leaves and processed tea has been found over a wide area around Tokyo.

So what was the logical response to this revelation?

Shizuoka Prefecture told a Tokyo-based mail order company not to say anything on its website about excessive radioactive material being found in tea from the prefecture, the retailer said Friday.

After Radishbo-ya Co. made an inquiry to the Shizuoka Prefectural Government about the matter Monday, a prefectural official told the company not to disclose the finding due to fears the message would cause unwarranted harm to Shizuoka tea growers, adding that the prefecture would confirm the finding on its own, according to the retailer.

Radishbo-ya, for its part, sent purchasers of the tea letters informing them about the radiation and offered to recall the products.

Shizuoka is a famous tea production area.

As Alexander Higgins notes, it is 300 miles by car from Fukushima to Shizuoka:

This doesn't look good at all.

Frankly, I think NOTHING can be trusted out of Japan now.



See also:

Cesium in tea at Kanagawa Prefecture

Japan's green tea contaminated with radiation

Nuclear contamination in Japanese tea region

So sad,
I read a recent report on the net where Japanese schoolchildren from 14 schools were on a tea picking outing in a zone which was considered unsafe. Having worked in Japan in 1981, I will never forget the gentleness and kindness of these people. What game are their Government playing is the question that is on my mind. Thanks for bringing this to the attention of ATS.

Your first S & F

PEACE,
RK