Blueberry spread, labeled ORGANIC, contaminated with man-made radiation

English summary from EXSKF: "Japanese weekly magazine Shukan Asahi did its own checking on imported blueberry spread being sold in Tokyo and alerted the health authorities, who were reluctant to do anything at first.

Main points from from Shukan Asahi (10/23/2013) article:

• "Fior di frutta organic fruits spread" blueberry imported from Italy

• Place of origin: Bulgaria

• 164Bq/kg of cesium-137 by test commissioned by Shukan Asahi

• 140Bq/kg of cesium-137 by test by the municipal (Tokyo) health authorities

• Shibuya-ku ordered the importer MIE PROJECT on October 18 to recall 5,184 bottles of blueberry spread with the best before date of October 17, 2015.

• Ministry of Health and Welfare initially refused to do anything based on "private" (as opposed to "official" - i.e. by the government) test results.

• The public health centers involved didn't want to move either on just "an article that appeared in a magazine".

• Less than 10 percent of all imported food is tested; it is possible that people are eating contaminated food without knowing."

This spread is also imported into the United States and is carried where organic foods are carried. While the contamination level is high, and children in the US are often fed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, this amuont of contamination is well within the US FDA's allowed cesium contamination level of 1200 Bq/kg. This is why we need testing of our food in the US now.