Japan Food Alert!

As Japan reports radioactive contamination of plant and animal food stocks in the prefectures nearest Fukushima Daiichi, countries around the world are moving to block Japanese food imports.

The US was among the first, issuing FDA IMPORT ALERT #99-33 on March 24.

Seaweed, for example. Already scarce in many US markets, where fears of fall-out have driven panic-buying of this alternative to potassium iodide, seaweed is now itself suspect. Although it is not included in the FDA alert, Australia has halted seaweed imports from Japan as a precaution.

Japan is a leading supplier of seaweed to the US, but it’s not the only source.