The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said March 17 it was working on new steps to ensure food imports from Japan were safe as that country works to contain radiation from stricken nuclear power facilities.
“As FDA assesses whether there is a potential health risk associated with FDA-regulated food products imported from Japan, the agency will develop a monitoring strategy that may include increased and targeted product sampling at the border,” according to the agency’s Internet website.
The FDA also said while there was no “public health event” in the United States requiring the use of the antidote potassium iodide, it was working with companies to increase production quickly. That came in response to increased demand for the product, it said.
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Potassium iodide helps shield absorption of harmful radioactive iodine in human thyroid glands.
About 60 per cent of goods imported from Japan are food products, such as seafood, snack foods and processed fruits and vegetables, according to the FDA. Only one-tenth of one per cent of FDA-regulated goods from Japan are dairy products, the agency said.
Th 9.0 magnitude earthquake March 11 was followed by a tsunami that badly damaged Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant facilities.
As a precaution, the U.S. Envi ronmental Protect ion Agency has deployed more radiation monitors for Alaska, Hawaii and Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean. It also said it had dozens of detectors in storage that could be deployed throughout the country if necessary.
The FDA, which with the U. S Agriculture Department, monitors food and agricultural imports, said it would examine foods and raw ingredients labelled as having originated in Japan or passed through Japan at the time of the nuclear disaster.
Fish and seafood will also be evaluated, but the FDA said that Pacific Ocean water “rapidly and effectively dilutes radioactive material.”
