Unless you work in a nuclear power plant, you probably don’t think you have much to worry about in terms of getting a harmful dose of radiation.
But a recent finding from Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety (CFS) may just change your mind.
The Hong Kong government announced yesterday that it has found levels of radiation in a sample of powdered tea from the Japanese prefecture of Chiba.
Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown that devastated eastern parts of Japan after a strong earthquake and tsunami in 2011, Hong Kong’s CFS has stepped up its testing of food items imported from the country.
From time to time, samples of Japanese food have been found to contain low levels of radiation since the disaster.
However, before you freak out, bust out your radioactive suit and stop drinking tea (god forbid!), the product in question will not be sold on the market.
The Hong Kong government said that it will follow up with the importer and, if necessary, review its strategy concerning food products imported from Japan.
Photo: AndreasS via Flickr
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the results of radiation testing by the Hong Kong government on a sample of powdered tea from Japan. The sample had 0.93 percent of the legal limit, not 9.3 times the legal limit.
