In a recent letter to the Food and Drug Administration, Citizens for Health (CFH) and Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network (FFAN) strongly urged the Food and Drug Administration to investigate the real possibility of radioactivity in U.S. food as part of the federal government’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda given that radiation from nuclear accidents bioaccumulates in food and there are links to cancer and childhood health.
According to FFAN’s Kim Roberson, “We continue to be greatly alarmed not only by Japan’s August 2023 decision to release of 1.3 million tons of radioactive waste, but also its imminent plans to spread 14 million cubic meters of radioactive waste around Japan as public works projects — including agricultural underlayment,” she said.
Consistent with the MAHA agenda for a healthier America, the government cannot continue to overlook the potential for radioactive contamination of U.S. food and how it may influence the trajectory of cancer and chronic illness in Americans.
“Impacts on human health from man-made radioactive isotopes ingested in food and water must be part of the agenda,” Roberson wrote in the letter.
Betsy Lehrfeld, President of Citizens for Health, agreed with Roberson’s assessment. “The FDA has a responsibility to investigate the ongoing impacts of radioactive contamination in our food supply. It’s time for FDA to act swiftly on the authority given to it by Congress to protect every person in America from a contaminated food supply by raising and enforcing the standards of acceptable levels.”
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Radioactive Foods an Ongoing Threat
It’s been more than a decade since Japan’s Fukushima Dai-chi Nuclear Power Plant released hydrogen and radioactive materials into the Pacific Ocean after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the Northeast coast of Japan. Some 15 years later, the Fukushima plant’s meltdown is still impacting U.S. shores. The letter explains that there is contamination of some of the U.S. food supply — a growing threat and for which FDA’s transparent monitoring and testing of radioactivity has been severely lacking.
Roberson pointed out that compared to standards of other countries, the U.S. has weaker and less enforceable guidelines and recommendations for radioactivity of foods.
According to Roberson, “Children are at far greater risk than adults. And women and girls are at far greater risk than males.”
For example, the letter details how American consumers continue to eat food from Japan that is permitted to contain 12 to 24 times the percentage of cesium as Japan’s government allows to be sold or consumed there.
The FDA has a responsibility to investigate the ongoing impacts of radioactive contamination of U.S. food supply. -Betsy Lehrfeld, President, Citizens for Health
Swift action needed
Join us: urge Congress to pass the Federal Food Administration Act (FFA) and use it to become laser-focused on food safety. It’s also time for Congress to empower FDA to empanel independent scientists and experts who understand radiation’s environmental and health effects.
Additional Resources:
Sign the Petition: Keep harmful radioactive waste out of our children’s food, conventionally grown or organic
Stay connected: Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network
