Food Safety Focus (59th Issue, June 2011) – Food Incident Highlight

Nuclear Incident and Seafood Safety

Following the discharge of radioactive contaminated water from the incapacitated Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, monitoring of seafood in waters nearby found that some of them contained radioactive caesium and iodine exceeding Japanese and Codex standards. The findings raised concerns on the safety of seafood in the Pacific Ocean .

According to the World Health Organization, levels of radioactivity in seafood collected away from the waters surrounding Japan are expected to remain significantly below levels of any public health concern since any contamination will be dispersed and diluted.

In Hong Kong , imports and supply of Japanese food including live, chilled or frozen aquatic products from the five affected prefectures in Japan on or after 11 March are prohibited. With the stepped-up food surveillance for Japanese fresh produce since 12 March, the Centre for Food Safety has tested 1 608 samples of aquatic products for radioactivity to date (14 June) and all results were satisfactory.