An oatmeal product, produced and imported from Japan, has been found to contain low levels of radioactivity by food safety authorities in Hong Kong.
Officials from the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department discovered levels of radioactive caesium-137 in the Japan-manufactured oatmeal product, which was discovered in a supermarket.
The CFS has been conducting daily tests for radioactivity on food imported from Japan at import, wholesale and retail levels since 12 March 2011, following a incident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.
A CFS spokesperson said: “The oats sample was collected from a local supermarket for radiation testing under the regular Food surveillance Program.
“The internal dose of radioactive substances of high consumers from consuming the oats sample for one year is approximately 0.003 millisievert (mSv), far less than the radiation dose received during a chest X-ray examination (about 0.05 mSv)”.
The product, Nihonshokuhin Premium Pure Oatmeal 300g pack, was manufactured by Nippon Food Manufacturer in Hokkaido, more than 500 miles from Fukushima.
Despite this being detected, the Hong Kong CFS has declined to recall the product – claiming that dietary exposure to the oats would cause no adverse health effects.
Codex Alimentarius Commission guideline levels are set in 1,000 Becquerel per kilogram (Bq/kg) for caesium-137 in foods other than infant formula.
Tests on a Nihonshokuhin Premium Pure Oatmeal sample found caesium-137 at levels of 7Bq/kg.
Nevertheless, the CFS announced the test results in view of public concern about radioactivity in food products from Japan.
The spokesperson added: “The CFS will continue to closely monitor information from Japan as well as the radiation testing results of Japanese food products in Hong Kong and elsewhere.
“It will review and adjust, if necessary, the surveillance strategy on food products imported from Japan in a timely manner, making reference to the recommendations of international authorities, to safeguard food safety”.
The CFS increased its surveillance of food being imported from Japan on the 12 March 2011 – the day after a nuclear incident occurred at the Fukushima power plant in Japan.
The incident eventually led to the plant’s meltdown before an earthquake and an tsunami destroyed large parts of the country. The event is now considered to be the largest nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown.
In December last year, Meiji Holdings Co announced that levels of caesium-134 and caesium-137 has been found in its Meiji Step baby milk powder.
The firm, being Japan’s biggest dairy player, recalled 400,000 units of the product following the detection.
