There’s been a lot of hand wringing in the media lately about seafood from Japan. You know, the seafood that makes up a total of less than one tenth of one percent of the seafood we eat in the United States.
Some of that nervous pontification by intrepid reporters has led to some rather embarrassing reporting mistakes, like the story ABC News did where it tracked tuna migrating from Japan to the West coast of the U.S. and there was much hand wringing to be had. However, their cartoonish, oversimplified, migration exaggeration failed to take into account that right now the tuna are nowhere near the affected area and likely wouldn’t come within a thousand miles…oops.
Today Food Safety News does a very good job of cutting through the hyperbole and getting to the facts. A professor of Radiological Physics at the Mayo Clinic (who also happens to be Chairman of the American College of Radiology's Safety Committee) explains that, "If someone were to eat seafood or seaweed within one kilometer from the discharge point for a year, they would get the equivalent of 1/10 of their normal background radiation” and “I think the key here is that detection doesn't mean harm.”
It’s a solid article that stands out amongst a sea of misinformation.
Only one bone to pick: Food and Water Watch is quoted, never one to shy away from an opportunity to scare consumers and bash the FDA. They are out with their tired old line about the FDA not being equipped to test all the seafood coming in from Japan. Let’s get some perspective people—there is essentially no seafood coming in from Japan right now and, again, when it does come in it makes up less than 1 tenth of 1 percent of the seafood we eat in this country. FDA, EPA, NOAA and other Federal agencies are already coordinating as part of this regulatory effort (an effort that will not shut down if the government closes.)
So, who should you look to as a source on food safety and radiation from Japan, an expert in Radiological Physics from the Mayo Clinic or a lobbying operation in D.C. that employs a former environmental consultant with a law degree, a policy analyst, a researcher and a legislative coordinator (yes, another lawyer)?
I’m going with the Mayo Clinic, just to be safe.
