Hong Kong has suspended imports of fresh produce, dairy products, meat and seafood from the five Japanese prefectures worst-affected by the radiation leak from the Fukishima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The ban, which takes effect today (Thursday), comes after Hong Kong food and environmental hygiene authorities found levels of radioactive iodine in turnip and spinach samples that exceeded the SAR’s safety levels by up to 10 times.
“We have reason to believe that contaminated food has had the chance to flow out from Japan,” said Clement Leung, Hong Kong’s director of food and environmental hygiene in a press release.
According to the press release, iodine-131 was found at concentrations as high as 800 becquerels per kg in two white turnip samples, and at 1,000 becquerels per kg in a spinach sample. Hong Kong’s limit for food is 100 becquerels per kg.
The five prefectures affected by the ban include Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma and Fukushima.
Hong Kong’s secretary for food and health Gabriel Leung said that an adult who consumed the products for a year would receive the equivalent radiation dose as taking up to 10 chest x-rays.
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