FDA: Processed goods from Japan safe for consumption

Processed goods that are imported from Japan are safe for consumption despite the radiation scare there, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Wednesday. "They (Japanese products) are very safe," FDA director Dr. Suzettee Henares-Lazo said during a Senate inquiry on the effects of the radiation scare in Japan. Lazo explained that since March 21, they have been conducting random samplings of product shipments coming from Japan. Of the 12 samples collected from the 238 imports, she said no products showed significant levels of radiation. "As expected the readings are significantly low, way below the maximum allowable levels," she said, adding that the country has so far not banned any products coming from Japan. Lazo said there are 24 importers of Japanese products to the country. She noted, however, that the Japanese government has voluntarily banned the exportation of milk products, fruits, and vegetables from the four perfectures near the quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan. Lazo added that they are more concerned about importers who are not on their list and do not undergo the legal process of bringing in products to the Philippines. "We do have some concerns because there might be imported food products that might not be registered," she said. Contaminated water Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) director Dr. Alumanda dela Rosa and Department of Health director Agnette Peralta also said that there is no need to worry about the products obtained from waters contaminated by the Fukushima plant. Dela Rosa explained that to be able to get an accumulated radiation dose of 0.6 millisieverts, a person would have to eat seaweed and seafood caught near the plant for a year. "That's a very conservative (estimate)," she said during the same inquiry. [See more information on radiation here] The PNRI had earlier traced "normal" levels of radiation from Japan in the country, ranging from 93 to 123 nanosieverts per hour. However, it emphasized that the radiation "poses no human health hazards." Dela Rosa said the normal radiation level in Tokyo is 45 to 80 nanosieverts while the normal level in Metro Manila is 85 to 115 nanosieverts. Expand radiation monitoring But Dr. Romeo Quijano, professor at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the University of the Philippines-Manila, reiterated his stand that no level of radioactivity is "safe." Quijano likewise said the government should strengthen its radiation monitoring system just to be on the safe side. "Mahirap nating ma-assess ang ating risk kung di natin alam yung status ng ating hangin kasi ang monitoring natin kakaunti palang ang lugar (It's hard to assess the risk if we do not know the status of our air because we only have a few monitoring areas)," he said during the same hearing. According to Dela Rosa, the PNRI has a monitoring station in Tanay, Rizal, which she said is only one of the 80 stations all over the world that monitor air for any sign of radioactivity. She said that they also do monitoring in Metro Manila. But Senator Pia Cayetano, chairperson of the Senate committee on health, told Dela Rosa to make a "wish-list" and submit it to the Senate so that they will have an idea what equipment and other support the PNRI needs to address any possible radiation scare. — RSJ/KBK, GMA News