Rice found tainted with cesium in Japan declared ‘safe’

Rice in Japan was declared safe after low levels of cesium from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant were found in one sample for the first time, spurring calls by consumer groups for tougher safety standards.

One sample of brown rice from Hokota-shi, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the Dai-Ichi power plant, had 52 becquerels per kilogram of cesium in preliminary tests, while two other samples showed no contamination, the prefectural government said. The government’s limit for cesium in grains is 500 becquerels per kilogram.

Farmers growing half of Japan’s rice crop are awaiting test results to see if their produce has been contaminated by radiation from Tokyo Electric Power Co’s plant. Rice, used in almost all Japanese meals and the key ingredient in sake, is being tested as the harvest started this month. Radiation exceeding safety levels was found in produce including spinach, mushrooms, tea and beef.

“It was the first time to find radiation contamination in the nation’s rice crops,” Yuichi Matsuda, a spokesman at the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, said today by phone. “Although it showed a low level of contamination, the rice is safe for consumption.”

Ibaraki prefecture, south of Fukushima, was Japan’s fifth- biggest rice producer last year with 392,800 metric tonnes. Rice from Kashima-shi and Kamisu-shi in the prefecture, where the final tests showed no contamination, will begin shipments and sales, the local government said.

“The government should lower the legal limit for food from 500 becquerels per kilogramme to enhance food safety,” said Yasuaki Yamaura, secretary general of the Consumers Union of Japan. “We may see more rice in other prefectures being contaminated with radioactive materials as it’s more than five months after the Fukushima power plant started spewing radiation in March.”

Faced with criticism from consumer groups and opposition party politicians that lax government control has endangered food safety, the ministry tightened rice screening before the harvest began in eastern Japan.

The government asked 17 prefectures in eastern Japan to test farmland for radiation, an area accounting for 54 per cent of domestic rice production. If initial surveys show a certain level of radiation, wider tests will be carried out, the government said.

Rice futures for January delivery fell 1.1 per cent to close at ¥15,820 ($208) per 60 kilogrammes on the Tokyo Grain Exchange, declining for the first time in four days.

“The radiation contamination news was a negative factor for futures of domestically-produced rice,” said Toshimitsu Kawanabe, an analyst at broker Central Shoji Co.

Authorities will ban shipments from areas where they find rice containing cesium exceeding the government’s legal limit for grains. Any contaminated produce will be destroyed.

Japan will partially lift a ban on shipments of cattle from Miyagi prefecture, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said today. The government will retain its ban on shipments of beef from Fukushima until there is confirmation that none of it is contaminated, Edano said.