Canada wants food and feed safety confirmation from Japan, radiation testing started

Imports from Japan concerning food and animal feed has become a concern for Canada. The country is calling on tighter measures to be carried out on products from affected areas in Japan, in the midst of the country’s nuclear disaster.

Paperwork displaying details on food safety should be provided to Canada before food and animal feed products are permitted into the country.

This announcement was made by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, it stated that the new requirement of documentation, as of Friday, is so that safety of products can be proved.

The areas in Japan which will be affected by Canada’s rules are:

• Fukushima
• Gunma, Ibaraki
• Tochigi, Miyagi
• Yamagata
• Niigata, Nagano
• Yamanashi
• Saitama
• Tokyo and Chiba

It has been reported that above-safety radiation levels have been found in some vegetables from the Fukushima area in Japan.

Products that also need documents proving its safety inlcude milk, fruit and vegetables. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has started to carry out tests to detect radiation levels of products from Japan.

On 11 March, an earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, affecting a six-reactor nuclear plant.

Source: Reuters Canada