F.D.A. Bans Some Food Imports From Japan

[Jam]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/bu...ml?ref=science

The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it would halt imports of dairy products and produce from the area of Japan where a nuclear reactor is leaking radiation. The F.D.A. said those foods will be detained at entry and would not be sold to the public. The agency previously said it would step up screening of those foods.
[...]
Representative Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut [...] noted that the F.D.A. had not always been able to track where food production facilities were located in other countries.

[c1ue]

Re: F.D.A. Bans Some Food Imports From Japan

Ah, the New York Times.

How much produce and dairy products does the US import from Japan in general, much less from the Fukushima area?

Amusingly, seafood doesn't have this restriction.

More posturing and alarmism.

[Jam]

Re: F.D.A. Bans Some Food Imports From Japan

From the same article

Japanese foods make up less than 4 percent of all American imports, and the F.D.A. said it expected no risk to the food supply in the United States from radiation. Officials and health experts say the doses are low and not a threat to human health unless the tainted products are consumed in abnormally excessive quantities.

Obviously, the ban is intended to show the worried populace that the FDA is doing something for them.