Yet again our government is caught off guard; as the rest of the world starts to ban or limit Japanese food imports; our government is still allowing imports from Japan. Our government’s lax attitude over the Japanese crisis is becoming very troubling, and is starting to raise questions over their ability to deal with the crisis.
Governments around the world move to protect their citizens from radioactive food imports:
- The Italian government announced this morning that it will be banning all food imports from Japan.
- The Indian government has ordered any Japanese food imports to be tested for radiation.
- The European Union is telling all member states to check for radiation in food imports from Japan
- Malaysian Health minister says, they are “monitor the situation closely” and have started screening all food imports. Maskargo & Malaysia Airlines have also stopped flying cargo into Japan.
- China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision ordered all goods from Japan to be screened for radiation.
- Singapore increased inspections of all imports.
- Australia and New Zealand are stepping up efforts to inspect food imports from Japan
The U.S. Reaction:
White House spokesman Jay Carney, told reporters that this type of monitoring already happens on a daily basis and seemed to suggest that no additional screening was needed. To me this is troubling news.
Is the white house telling us that the same government agencies that failed to protect us from toxic toys, radioactive drywall, tainted toothpaste, and toxic imports from China will now somehow be able protect us from radioactive imports from Japan?
UPDATE: 3-19-2011 12:18p.m pst
Japanese government reporting radiation found in spinach and milk samples. The radiation levels are above legal limits.
apples and oranges. The chinese poisonings were the result of shady business practices, and lack of regulation from the chinese government, not a lack of inspection. Aside from the toothpaste the other instances don’t fall under the FDA anyway. Have a little faith; we have fared much better than most as through swine/bird flu, mad cow, etc. because of our inspection, regulation, and general import practices.
I WON’T be taking a geiger counter with me next I get sushi.
As for the government they are just trying to downplay this to remain all powerful and in control and to “avoid panic”. Budget cuts should be used to cut all this bull crap out and let what the government know be what the people know. Especially when it involves our lives. We are not just numbers we are people. We have a right to know and for some reason thy think try have a right to take vacations every month.
Hey, even the Japanese are making sure that they don’t eat the food from Tohoku, so it’s unlikely that we’ll be seeing any “glow in the dark” soy sauce on the shelves. The sushi served up in the US comes from local sources. With the yen at an all time high against the dollar, it also doesn’t make much economic sense to try and sell high-priced J-food in America.