FAQ
Safety of Food and Drinking Water in Fukushima and Throughout Japan
Food products undergo monitoring inspections for radionuclides based on nationally established guidelines. Each prefectural government has devised inspection plans and is conducting monitoring inspections.
Agriculture, forestry and fishery products are subject to thorough monitoring inspections before distribution, and the results of the inspections are published online on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare website and on the websites of the respective local bodies. More than 200,000 inspections are conducted each year. And no food products found to exceed the upper limit values are distributed on the domestic or international markets. In the case that multiple products from a particular area are found to exceed the upper limit values, shipping restrictions are put in place for the area.
The Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture (a partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency) reviewed Japan's monitoring methods and concluded that “the measures to monitor and respond to issues regarding radionuclide contamination of food are appropriate, and that the food supply chain is controlled effectively by the relevant authorities.“
For information on the latest inspection results, see the following FAQ: What are the results of the latest food inspections?
