All bags of rice harvested in Fukushima Prefecture in 2014 submitted for testing met the national standards for radiation, marking the first time that all bags fell within acceptable levels since the checks began in 2012.
All bags of rice harvested in Fukushima Prefecture in 2014 submitted for testing met the national standards for radiation, marking the first time that all bags fell within acceptable levels since the checks began in 2012.
Testing for radiation got under way after the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
In 2014, an estimated 10.75 million bags of rice were tested, and all were found to have less radiation than the national standard of 100 becquerels per kilogram.
The Fukushima prefectural government began testing all rice grown in the prefecture in 2012 after purchasing about 190 testing devices to be used throughout the prefecture.
In past testing, about 10 million bags of rice were checked annually. In 2012, 71 bags were found to exceed the safety standards, while in 2013, 28 bags were over the standard.
Bags of rice found to have less than the standard set in the Food Sanitation Law receive labels saying that testing has been completed. Bags of rice that exceed the standards are destroyed.
The prefecture plans to continue the radiation testing program.
Rice farmers in Fukushima Prefecture have attempted various methods to reduce the radiation in the rice. One measure involves changing the fertilizer used so that radioactive cesium is not absorbed by the rice plant.
(This article was written by Naoyuki Takahashi and Mana Nagano.)