MSNBC.com - Japan confirmed the presence of radioactive iodine contamination in food products from near a crippled nuclear plant and ordered a halt to their sale, the U.N. nuclear body said on Saturday.
"Though radioactive iodine has a short half-life of about 8 days and decays naturally within a matter of weeks, there is a short-term risk to human health if radioactive iodine in food is absorbed into the human body," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.
Earlier Japanese officials said radiation levels in spinach and milk from farms the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex exceeded government safety limits.
The food was taken from farms as far as 65 miles from the stricken plants, suggesting a wide area of nuclear contamination.
While the radiation levels exceeded the limits allowed by the government, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano insisted the products "pose no immediate health risk."
The tainted milk was found 20 miles from the plant, a local official said.
Quake risk at nuclear plants
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has estimated the risk for each nuclear reactor in the U.S. of an earthquake damaging the reactor's core. Geologists estimate that the risk of earthquakes in the central and eastern U.S. is much higher than previously thought. The 104 nuclear reactors and their risk estimates are ranked in this investigative report from msnbc.com.
The spinach was collected from six farms between 60 miles and 75 miles to the south of the reactors.
Those areas are rich farm country known for melons, rice and peaches, so the contamination could affect food supplies for large parts of Japan.
More testing was being done on other foods, Edano said in Tokyo, and if tests show further contamination then food shipments from the area would be halted.
Officials said it was too early to know if the nuclear crisis caused the contamination, but Edano said air sampling done near the dairy showed higher radiation levels.
Cesium 137 found
Iodine levels in the spinach exceeded safety limits by three to seven times, a food safety official said.
Tests on the milk done Wednesday detected small amounts of iodine 131 and cesium 137, the latter being a longer lasting element and can cause more types of cancer.
But only iodine was detected Thursday and Friday, a Health Ministry official said.
Officials from Edano on down tried to calm public jitters, saying the amounts detected were so small that people would have to consume unimaginable amounts to endanger their health.
Edano said someone drinking the tainted milk for one year would consume as much radiation as in a CT scan; for the spinach, it would be one-fifth of a CT scan. A CT scan is a compressed series of X-rays used for medical tests.
"Can you imagine eating one kilogram of spinach every day for one year?" State Secretary of Health Minister Yoko Komiyama said. One kilogram is a little over two pounds.
Meanwhile, just outside the bustling disaster response center in the city of Fukushima, 40 miles northwest of the plant, government nuclear specialist Kazuya Konno was able to take only a three-minute break for his first meeting since the quake with his wife, Junko, and their children.
"It's very nerve-racking. We really don't know what is going to become of our city," said Junko Konno, 35. "Like most other people, we have been staying indoors unless we have to go out."
She brought her husband a small backpack with a change of clothes and snacks. The girls — aged 4 and 6 and wearing pink surgical masks decorated with Mickey Mouse — gave their father hugs.
Low levels of radiation have been detected well beyond Tokyo, which is 140 miles south of the plant, but hazardous levels have been limited to the plant itself.
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Food Prices Jump 3.9% In Feburary, Highest Increase In 36 Years
Ed Morrissey -If grocery bills seem higher, you’re not imagining things. Thanks mostly to a sharp increase in fuel prices, the cost of food rose faster in February than in any month since November 1974 — not coincidentally, during a previous energy crisis:
Wholesale prices jumped last month by the most in nearly two years due to higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in 36 years. Excluding those volatile categories, inflation was tame.
The Labor Department said Wednesday that the Producer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in February — double the 0.8 percent rise in the previous month. Outside of food and energy costs, the core index ticked up 0.2 percent, less than January’s 0.5 percent rise.
Food prices soared 3.9 percent last month, the biggest gain since November 1974. Most of that increase was due to a sharp rise in vegetable costs, which increased nearly 50 percent. That was the most in almost a year. Meat and dairy products also rose.
Energy prices rose 3.3 percent last month, led by a 3.7 percent increase in gasoline costs.
The good news is that the price of oil has declined after the disaster in Japan, going down to $97 a barrel. However, with Japan’s nuclear reactors under scrutiny and the crisis ongoing at their Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan will need to boost its other sources of electricity. Nuclear power accounts for more than a third of it now. Japan will have to import raw materials for other sources to boost production, and whether that means oil itself or coal, increased transportation demand will eventually mean higher prices even while Japan recovers from the destruction.
Reuters reports that the price increase surprised economists, and it’s not the first time either:
[The overall rise in wholesale prices] was more than double economists’ expectations for a 0.7 percent rise last month. In the 12 months to February, producer prices increased 5.6 percent, the biggest rise since March, after advancing 3.6 percent in January.
The report came a day after the Federal Reserve said it expected the upward inflation pressure from energy and other commodities to prove transitory but that it would keep a close eye on inflation and inflation expectations.
Economists said given the huge amount of slack in the economy, they did not expect the strong producer prices to pass through to consumers any time soon.
My good friend Scott Johnson at Power Line blames the Fed’s QE2 policy in part for the problem, and points to this WSJ editorial yesterday warning of a rise in inflation:
The Federal Reserve has been on a media campaign to sell its monetary policy to average Americans, but this hasn’t always gone smoothly. Witness last week’s visit to Queens, New York, by New York Fed President William Dudley, who got a street-corner education in the cost of living.
The former Goldman Sachs chief economist gave a speech explaining the economy’s progress and the Fed’s successes, but come question time the main thing the crowd wanted to know was why they’re paying so much more for food and gas. Keep in mind the Fed doesn’t think food and gas prices matter to its policy calculations because they aren’t part of “core” inflation.
So Mr. Dudley tried to explain that other prices are falling. “Today you can buy an iPad 2 that costs the same as an iPad 1 that is twice as powerful,” he said. “You have to look at the prices of all things.”
Reuters reports that this “prompted guffaws and widespread murmuring from the audience,” with someone quipping, “I can’t eat an iPad.” Another attendee asked, “When was the last time, sir, that you went grocery shopping?”
Scott cleverly titles his post, “Let them eat iPads.” I’m not sure I’d draw a line between QE2 and what has happened in food and oil prices, at least not as a primary factor. The effect of QE2 will be to weaken the dollar, which will hike the cost of imports, to be sure, and that may account for a little of the large price jump. If it was the main factor — if the dollar had been weakened to that extent — then prices would be up across the board, especially on imports. At least according to today’s report from the BEA on the trade deficit, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
The real source of this problem is America’s continuing refusal to exploit its own energy sources. We remain too dependent on imports for energy while deliberately sidelining at least hundreds of thousands of potential high-paying jobs by refusing to extract our own oil and natural gas. When the unstable countries that produce oil go through political paroxysms, it spooks investors and sends commodity prices soaring on the increased risk to distribution. Those price increases mean higher transportation costs, which impacts all goods and services that require transport to get to consumers. It’s a multiplier factor that we have seen a number of times over the last four decades, and which our political class continues to pretend doesn’t exist.
Update: Gabriel Malor reminds me that prices of imported goods went up 1.4% in February as well, so the QE2 effect could be a larger part of this than I argued — but not the most pressing cause.
Update II: Yes, it’s definitely worth pointing out that Sarah Palin predicted this in November of last year:
So, imagine my dismay when I read an article by Sudeep Reddy in today’s Wall Street Journal criticizing the fact that I mentioned inflation in my comments about QE2 in a speech this morning before a trade-association. Here’s what I said: “everyone who ever goes out shopping for groceries knows that prices have risen significantly over the past year or so. Pump priming would push them even higher.”
Mr. Reddy takes aim at this. He writes: “Grocery prices haven’t risen all that significantly, in fact.” Really? That’s odd, because just last Thursday, November 4, I read an article in Mr. Reddy’s own Wall Street Journal titled “Food Sellers Grit Teeth, Raise Prices: Packagers and Supermarkets Pressured to Pass Along Rising Costs, Even as Consumers Pinch Pennies.”
The article noted that “an inflationary tide is beginning to ripple through America’s supermarkets and restaurants…Prices of staples including milk, beef, coffee, cocoa and sugar have risen sharply in recent months.”
Wholesale prices jumped last month by the most in nearly two years due to higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in 36 years. Excluding those volatile categories, inflation was tame.
The Labor Department said Wednesday that the Producer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in February — double the 0.8 percent rise in the previous month. Outside of food and energy costs, the core index ticked up 0.2 percent, less than January’s 0.5 percent rise.
Food prices soared 3.9 percent last month, the biggest gain since November 1974. Most of that increase was due to a sharp rise in vegetable costs, which increased nearly 50 percent. That was the most in almost a year. Meat and dairy products also rose.
Energy prices rose 3.3 percent last month, led by a 3.7 percent increase in gasoline costs.
The good news is that the price of oil has declined after the disaster in Japan, going down to $97 a barrel. However, with Japan’s nuclear reactors under scrutiny and the crisis ongoing at their Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan will need to boost its other sources of electricity. Nuclear power accounts for more than a third of it now. Japan will have to import raw materials for other sources to boost production, and whether that means oil itself or coal, increased transportation demand will eventually mean higher prices even while Japan recovers from the destruction.
Reuters reports that the price increase surprised economists, and it’s not the first time either:
[The overall rise in wholesale prices] was more than double economists’ expectations for a 0.7 percent rise last month. In the 12 months to February, producer prices increased 5.6 percent, the biggest rise since March, after advancing 3.6 percent in January.
The report came a day after the Federal Reserve said it expected the upward inflation pressure from energy and other commodities to prove transitory but that it would keep a close eye on inflation and inflation expectations.
Economists said given the huge amount of slack in the economy, they did not expect the strong producer prices to pass through to consumers any time soon.
My good friend Scott Johnson at Power Line blames the Fed’s QE2 policy in part for the problem, and points to this WSJ editorial yesterday warning of a rise in inflation:
The Federal Reserve has been on a media campaign to sell its monetary policy to average Americans, but this hasn’t always gone smoothly. Witness last week’s visit to Queens, New York, by New York Fed President William Dudley, who got a street-corner education in the cost of living.
The former Goldman Sachs chief economist gave a speech explaining the economy’s progress and the Fed’s successes, but come question time the main thing the crowd wanted to know was why they’re paying so much more for food and gas. Keep in mind the Fed doesn’t think food and gas prices matter to its policy calculations because they aren’t part of “core” inflation.
So Mr. Dudley tried to explain that other prices are falling. “Today you can buy an iPad 2 that costs the same as an iPad 1 that is twice as powerful,” he said. “You have to look at the prices of all things.”
Reuters reports that this “prompted guffaws and widespread murmuring from the audience,” with someone quipping, “I can’t eat an iPad.” Another attendee asked, “When was the last time, sir, that you went grocery shopping?”
Scott cleverly titles his post, “Let them eat iPads.” I’m not sure I’d draw a line between QE2 and what has happened in food and oil prices, at least not as a primary factor. The effect of QE2 will be to weaken the dollar, which will hike the cost of imports, to be sure, and that may account for a little of the large price jump. If it was the main factor — if the dollar had been weakened to that extent — then prices would be up across the board, especially on imports. At least according to today’s report from the BEA on the trade deficit, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
The real source of this problem is America’s continuing refusal to exploit its own energy sources. We remain too dependent on imports for energy while deliberately sidelining at least hundreds of thousands of potential high-paying jobs by refusing to extract our own oil and natural gas. When the unstable countries that produce oil go through political paroxysms, it spooks investors and sends commodity prices soaring on the increased risk to distribution. Those price increases mean higher transportation costs, which impacts all goods and services that require transport to get to consumers. It’s a multiplier factor that we have seen a number of times over the last four decades, and which our political class continues to pretend doesn’t exist.
Update: Gabriel Malor reminds me that prices of imported goods went up 1.4% in February as well, so the QE2 effect could be a larger part of this than I argued — but not the most pressing cause.
Update II: Yes, it’s definitely worth pointing out that Sarah Palin predicted this in November of last year:
So, imagine my dismay when I read an article by Sudeep Reddy in today’s Wall Street Journal criticizing the fact that I mentioned inflation in my comments about QE2 in a speech this morning before a trade-association. Here’s what I said: “everyone who ever goes out shopping for groceries knows that prices have risen significantly over the past year or so. Pump priming would push them even higher.”
Mr. Reddy takes aim at this. He writes: “Grocery prices haven’t risen all that significantly, in fact.” Really? That’s odd, because just last Thursday, November 4, I read an article in Mr. Reddy’s own Wall Street Journal titled “Food Sellers Grit Teeth, Raise Prices: Packagers and Supermarkets Pressured to Pass Along Rising Costs, Even as Consumers Pinch Pennies.”
The article noted that “an inflationary tide is beginning to ripple through America’s supermarkets and restaurants…Prices of staples including milk, beef, coffee, cocoa and sugar have risen sharply in recent months.”
Monday, March 14, 2011
Not Enough Food Water & Body Bags in Japan
Pundit& Pundette - Millions of people spent a third night without water, food or heating in near-freezing temperatures along the devastated northeastern coast where thousands of bodies were reported to have washed ashore. Meanwhile, a third reactor at a nuclear power plant lost its cooling capacity, raising fears of a meltdown, while the stock market plunged over the likelihood of huge losses by Japanese industries including big names such as Toyota and Honda. [. . .]
Friday's double-headed tragedy caused unimaginable deprivation for people of this industrialized country that has not seen such hardships since World War II. In many areas there is no running water, no power and four- to five-hour waits for gasoline. People are suppressing hunger with instant noodles or rice balls while dealing with the loss of loved ones and homes.
"People are surviving on little food and water. Things are simply not coming," said Hajime Sato, a government official in Iwate prefecture, one of the three hardest hit.
"We have repeatedly asked the government to help us, but the government is overwhelmed by the scale of damage and enormous demand for food and water," he told The Associated Press.
"We are only getting around just 10 percent of what we have requested. But we are patient because everyone in the quake-hit areas is suffering."
He said local authorities were also running out of body bags and coffins.
"We have requested funeral homes across the nation to send us many body bags and coffins. But we simply don't have enough. We just did not expect such a thing to happen. It's just overwhelming.
Friday's double-headed tragedy caused unimaginable deprivation for people of this industrialized country that has not seen such hardships since World War II. In many areas there is no running water, no power and four- to five-hour waits for gasoline. People are suppressing hunger with instant noodles or rice balls while dealing with the loss of loved ones and homes.
"People are surviving on little food and water. Things are simply not coming," said Hajime Sato, a government official in Iwate prefecture, one of the three hardest hit.
"We have repeatedly asked the government to help us, but the government is overwhelmed by the scale of damage and enormous demand for food and water," he told The Associated Press.
"We are only getting around just 10 percent of what we have requested. But we are patient because everyone in the quake-hit areas is suffering."
He said local authorities were also running out of body bags and coffins.
"We have requested funeral homes across the nation to send us many body bags and coffins. But we simply don't have enough. We just did not expect such a thing to happen. It's just overwhelming.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
THANKSGIVING "BE THANKFUL" DONATE
This Thanksgiving most Americans should be thankful that we have the most important thing in our lives and that is our families. This Thanksgiving I know that their are a number of Americans that are struggling to make ends meet because, of the bad economy and the large number of jobs lost over the past six months. During this bad economy we as Americans need to lean on each other and try to get through these troubling times by donating to our local charities. This Christmas season is a time of giving so, I hope that if you have a few Dollars leftover or some "Canned Goods" please give some money to the Food Bank, Catholic Charities, Salvation Army or your local Church that provide food for the less fortunate. The reason why I am asking the American people to be more generous because, I saw a long line of people outside a local church in my community getting food for the Thanksgiving Holiday. This shows me that the economy is starting to hurt people when it comes to buying food. The food prices are so high that families are running out of food and they are going to there local charities for help. The Local Food Bank in my area said on the news that they only have enough food to get them through the Holiday Season. This is the first time they have made a serious plea for donations 8 years so, they can help feed these struggling families. Finally, I know that you think I am a Left-Wing Liberal but, I am a Conservative and we believe that the best way to help the average American though these tough times is to donate to your local charities. Therefore, every working American should try and help out there struggling neighbor because, you never know that you might be in the same situation one day without a job or any food.
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