EDITORIAL: Citizens, government must cooperate on tainted food

Concerns about food safety are growing after the discovery of radioactive contamination of farm products like milk and spinach produced in areas around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which was badly damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The findings prompted Fukushima and other prefectures to ask agricultural cooperatives and farmers in the neighborhood of the ravaged nuclear power plant to refrain from shipping their products.

The central government then ordered the governors of the affected prefectures to suspend shipments of farm products found to have higher levels of radioactivity than the preliminary limits set by the government under the Food Sanitation Law.

The government, however, has said eating the foods subject to the shipment restriction would not pose any immediate threat to human health, asking the public not to overreact to the news.

Food contamination tends to provoke excessive anxiety among consumers. Signs that consumers are beginning to avoid certain foods have already been spotted at supermarkets in the Kanto region around Tokyo.

The government's move to stop the shipments of the produce that has been found to have levels of radioactivity exceeding legal limits may help prevent such overreaction by making clear that the products being shipped are safe.

But the Food Sanitation Law doesn't set any safety standards concerning radioactivity. So the government had to use the guideline criteria published in 2000 by the Nuclear Safety Commission as a provisional regulatory standard.

In a move that came far too late, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Sunday asked the Food Safety Commission to develop food safety standards for radioactive contamination.

The Food Safety Commission should create as quickly as possible radioactive safety standards based on solid science that allows the government to offer responsible explanations.

What is critical now is to protect the health of the people, ease their anxiety and prevent unfounded rumors from causing additional damage to farmers. The government's responsibility for the well-being of the people is huge.

As the first step, the government needs to enhance its monitoring of farm products to obtain quick, accurate information about radioactive contamination. It should disclose all relevant data without exception to ensure that there will be no doubts about the way it is handling the problem.

The government should also offer both consumers and producers clear explanations about contamination data and the measures it is taking to deal with the situation.

In communicating information about contamination to the public, the government should explain in detail the implications for human health, and back up its statements with convincing scientific data.

It should also seek the counsel of experts studying effective ways to communicate risks to the public.

Even if the levels of radioactivity detected don't pose a health hazard, however, it is necessary to offer detailed explanations about the data because of the differences among various radioactive materials in their effects on human health.

The sources of radioactive contamination that have been found are radioactive iodine and cesium.

The existence of these elements in food is worrying because when they are taken into the body they continue to emit radioactivity inside the body.

Radiation damages genes. When the human body is exposed to radioactivity exceeding certain levels, the risk of cancer increases sharply.

But it takes years for damaged genes to cause cancer by overwhelming the body's ability to repair damage. That's why radiation poses greater health risks to younger people.

There are also many untainted farm products produced in the areas where radioactive contamination has been detected.

The government should make active efforts to make sure information about such products will also reach the public.

Consumers, for their part, should respond to the situation in a coolheaded manner.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 22