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Singapore’s Agrifood and Veterinary Authority (AVA) announced on Thursday that “radioactive contaminants” had been found on four samples of vegetables from Japan.

The four vegetables included mitsuba (Japanese wild parsley), nanohana (rapeseed plant), mizuna (Japanese mustard) and perilla leaf.

“The contaminated samples were from the affected prefectures of Tochigi and Ibaraki, as well as Chiba and Ehime, which are outside the affected areas,” said the AVA in a statement.

The city-state’s food safety watchdog had already suspended imports of fresh produce, dairy products, seafood and meat from Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures. Now, it has expanded the ban to include the same products from Chiba and Ehime.

Nevertheless, the AVA moved to ease consumers’ food safety fears, with CEO Tan Poh Hong stating that the findings were “no cause for alarm”. He said that an adult who consumed 3.5kg of the affected vegetables would receive a radiation dose similar to that generated by one x-ray.

“Similarly, an adult would need to consume 184kg of these vegetables to receive an exposure level equivalent to the normal background radiation that a person will be exposed to in a year,” he added.

Singapore’s Health Ministry said the short-term consumption of food at these detected levels of radioactive contamination does not pose a health hazard.

Meanwhile, Australia’s food standards authority has requested restrictions to be placed on selected food imports from the Japanese prefectures located near the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has asked the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service to place holding orders on seaweed, seafood, fresh fruit and vegetables and milk and milk products from Fukishima, Gunma, Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures. The products would not be banned from entering Australia, but held for testing and then released if found safe.

FSANZ said the risk of Australian consumers being exposed to radionuclides in food imported from Japan was “negligible”, and it added that fresh fruit and vegetables milk and milk products are not imported to Australia. Imports of seafood and seaweed also present a very small proportion of Australia’s total imports of these products, at 5.5 per cent and 0.46 per cent respectively.

Tony Beaver of Australia’s Food and Beverage Importers Association said the move marked “a precautionary measure consistent with the action of other countries.”