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© KYODOIOC chief to confirm Japan's food products safe for Olympic participants
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© KYODO
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macv
I find food in Japan very safe and healthy. On a visit to LA a few years ago I couldn't handle the local food.
Tom
Food here is safe. Was never able to get Fukushima peaches this year which was perplexing. They are the best.
Disillusioned
In general, most Japanese foods are safe to eat. However, they are not safe from the multitude of food mislabeling scams that lie about the origins of foods.
drlucifer
Pledge number ?
wanderlust
The food industry has a lot of experience labelling food with the appropriate label; making sure that the origin is a safe place, regardless where it was produced, grown or caught.
drlucifer
It is the safest, it the most delicious, it is like a brand. in short, it is the best on the planet and that is why the price is a premium.
browny1
I'm supposing what they mean by "safe" in the article, refers to being free from radioactive contamination.
I'm sure it is.
But re "safe" in general terms, there is a lack of clarity in describing exactly what is meant by safe.
For example I understand it's been a huge struggle to source non-chemical - organic - raw foods for the olympics as required by olympic protocol as there are few primary producers in Japan producing such.
And food labelling laws here are way behind many other countries with the manner and way of listing all ingredients etc.
The Japanese agricultural industry is one of the largest users of chemical herbicides / pesticides in the world, second I believe to only China.
So when it comes to "food safety", we need to be aware that delicious and safe are 2 entirely different concepts.
sf2k
any Olympic chef de mission can test the food
Jimizo
Abe looks like he has eaten something dodgy and followed through in this photo.
ListenTheTruth
With the IOC such an established authority on food safety in regions contaminated with radionuclides, I am at last ready to eat, eat, eat.
Cricky
His nappy is full after getting, finally someone to agree to something he actually hadn't given a thought about.
saitamaliving
In my opinion it seems ridiculous at all that it is necessary to additionally confirm the fact that there is no radioactive food being served. Well done, South Korea. Meanwhile the food available in Japan to me seems as one of the safest available. Just imagine some Fukushima tracing radioactivity was found during the last couple of years by any NGO in Japanese Food, what the uproar would've been. No, Japan will not let this happen, therefore any doubts about Olympic food being radioactive is just ridiculous and such accusations follow a different plan.
Tawkeeo
Isn't Japan the country with the most Michelin stars or something like that for food quality? More than places like France and UK. That by itself says something about the very, very high quality of foods in the land of the rising sun.
showchinmono
If you worry, don't buy or eat out, or bring in all the foods like the Korean national teams was rumored to be doing.
tobolski
How is the IOC an arbiter of food safety? It sounds more like another opportunity to grift money from a host country.
sakurasuki
Japan has plenty great food sources beside Fukushima but since 2011 Japan Inc always try to push consumption food from that area both domestic and globally. Of course Tokyo 2020 just another way to brand safety of the food from that region.
Richard Burgan
Food in Japan is safe and healthy. I'm sure Japan will get glowing reviews. This is a formality that will, hopefully, head off protests from political activists and of course, Korea.
Toasted Heretic
Food in Japan is relatively safe. I am worried about recent reports about flushing irradiated water into the sea, though.
That can't be good.
Jimizo
Nice pun.
Wallace Fred
There's no such thing as safe food if it's grown anywhere near nuclear fallout. If you can't it food from chenobyl, you most definitely can't eat that from Fukushima. Well, if that's what floats your boat, go right ahead.
AlexBecu
All the downvotes. You can tell the anti-Japan crowd is bothered by facts. Bothered that Japanese food and products are safe and of high quality. Can't bash Japan the way they like.
Sergey
Just add more radiation safety information on the packaging. And install Geiger counters for consumers in stores and catering.
Pukey2
I also hate to think how much chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers are used on Japanese farms.
JonathanJo
Most dangerous food next year? Mochi.
sakurasuki
Go to any supermarket near you and try to find Fukushima product. Chance are you couldn't find any, at least not by just reading plain information that written on packages.
Robert Lacovara
My concern is the ocean water being used to cool the reactors and then that water being flushed back into the ocean. I know the reactor accident was 8 years ago but when TEPCO was spinning truths back then, I am still in wonderment of where Fukushima is today and the process of cleaning up and containing the plant.
As far as "safe" food in Japan. I'm there every year and aside from the occasional MSG headache from ramen, I eat mostly vegetables, gyoza, and fish when I'm there... I feel fine and have no signs of illness.
Side note: I climbed Fujisan last July for the 1st time and it treacherous to say the least. The entire climb up and down was 15 hours. Bring your own food and oxygen if you attempt to climb. We fortunately got to our station hut 25 minutes late and dinner service (curry rice) was not available to us. Turns out, over a dozen people got violently ill and could not climb or needed assistance getting down the mountain. Bring your own food! 2 liters of water per person. Good Luck!
Tokyo-gaijin
I doubt they will have any issues with the food; that’ll be the positive. But, after reading an article about the rugby venues today, I would be more worried about the safety of all of the venues.
Oh and the weather. I guess it’s going to be okay because, by memory, didn’t they test the triathlon by shortening the test. At least one athlete had heatstroke (suspected).
Black Sabbath
My mother-in-law buys most of her veg from the local farmers coop.
They are pretty much everywhere in kansai.
Omachi
I live in a rice growing region - and I keep honey bees. Every year I lose hives to pesticide poisoning, determined by the worker bees discarding their dead larvae outside the hive. Here they use radio controlled helicopters in the early morning hours to spray the rice fields and they do this also in the weeks before harvest. I seriously doubt that this is just a local practice and is limited to rice. IMO - overuse of pesticides, and when they are used in relation to harvest timing is a food safety problem. Everything that can be pealed should be, and everything else should be washed thoroughly.
Omachi
zichi
How would you know? I take early morning walks such that I am back home well before sunrise, and this spraying is finished by sunrise. I don't have experience with other crops - apples, pears, etc., but given the 'perfect fruit' affinity here, I suspect that pesticides are widely used.
browny1
Zichi - if you look at herbicide / pesticide use per hectare of arable land, then you'll find that Japan is indeed one of the largest users in the world. In fact the situation is compounded because of Japan's compact size.
This info can be easily sourced.
Unfortunately, Japan with it's hot, humid, wet, spring to summer seasons - the principal food growing time - has enormous problems battling invasive grasses, weeds, insects, fungi & moulds and other diseases
Individual farmers and zones may well use less chemicals, but on the whole many don't - or cannot.
For example, my farmer friend refuses to grow cabbages because they require weekly spraying over a 4+month period. She only grows vegetables that she can do so with minimal chemicals - not free of, but minimal.
As it seems that higher temperatures and heavier rainfall will increase over the ensuing decades, full time commercial farming will become more difficult. The future for much agricultural production is large scale sealed climate controlled "ventures" where produce can be carefully monitored for premium growth without the use of chemicals. Such hi-tech operations will be truly self sufficient, recycling materials and supplying their own energy through bio-gases, solar and wind.
Such places already exist.
browny1
Zichi - thank you for your reply. I'm sure farming practices in your area are relatively safe and traditional customs in place. It must be a nice part of Japan to live.
However I made my original comment in relation to your comment -
"....I would state Japanese farmers dont use chemicals anymore than in many other countries and probably less than in America...."
This actually is not the case. That's all.
My interest in the article was more along these lines as they are discussing "safe" supposedly in regards to radioactive substances, while dis-regarding any other mention of what safe food is.
It's strange that the media hasn't done any follow up stories over the years (to my knowledge) on the procurement of organic foodstuffs for the Olympics.
I'm with you Zichi in having a desire for as natural as possible food. Unfortunately that is difficult to achieve while living in cities, both from accessability and cost perspective.
browny1
Thanks Zichi - no one suggested Japan is#1 agro-chemical user.
But if you research thoroughly you will find that the use per hectare is right up there - right up there..
The conditions as I mentioned in Japan are not conducive to large scale production of many food stuffs without using large amounts of chemicals. Just the way it is. Rice as a wet land, hot weather product will naturally fair much better than say Peaches or tomatoes.
Anyways - enjoy your rustic paradise. I'm almost there, but not quite.
Cheers.
Omachi
Thanks zichi - good to know that it isn't that widespread.