Local farmers have been thrown into confusion after the health and farm ministries expressed differing views over shipments of tea harvested in Kanagawa Prefecture after fresh leaves were found to have exceeded government limits for radioactive cesium.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has been trying to restrict shipments of tea leaves from the prefecture about 300 kilometers from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant due to health concerns. The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, however, has claimed that despite the high levels of radioactive material, drinking tea made from the leaves would be safe because the radioactive material would be diluted.
One tea farmer in the prefecture grumbled, "I have no idea what's going to happen. I want them to clear things up."
The radiation safety limit for tea leaves is 500 becquerels per kilogram, the same as for vegetables, while the limit for tea drinks is 200 becquerels per kilogram, the same as for drinking water.
There have been no reports of drinks exceeding the 200-becquerel limit made from radiation-contaminated tea leaves. But fresh tea leaves harvested May 9-12 in six municipalities in the prefecture were found to have been contaminated with more than 500 becquerels of radioactive material.
Radiation levels for dried tea leaves that have been minimally processed (ara cha) are said to be five times higher than in just-harvested leaves. Dried tea leaves originally harvested in Minami-Ashigara, Kanagawa Prefecture, were found to contain 3,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium.
Shipments of tea leaves from the prefecture are currently under voluntarily suspension. But making the suspension legally binding is up to the government's nuclear crisis headquarters led by Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
The health ministry has asked 14 prefectures, including Shizuoka and others in the southern Tohoku and Kanto-Koshinetsu regions, to inspect farm produce, as radioactive material has spread over a wide area. On Monday, the ministry ordered additional tests on dried tea leaves.
"Even though [radioactive materials] are diluted when the tea is consumed, would consumers feel safe with tea leaves containing several thousand becquerels of radiation on the market? We need to restrict shipments of tea leaves," an official of the health ministry's Inspection and Safety Division said.
But an official of the farm ministry's Agricultural Production and Marketing Promotion Division said: "Tea leaves are basically raw materials. It's not reasonable to impose restrictions when they're at the leaf stage."
According to the division, radioactive materials are diluted to from one-30th to one-45th when tea is made from minimally processed leaves. Radiation is reduced by one-sixth to one-ninth in tea made from fresh leaves.
Therefore, if tea is made from fresh tea leaves containing 1,000 becquerels of radiation, the radiation levels would drop to around 100 becquerels, a level below the government's safety limits.
"The 500-becquerel limit is too strict. Even though tea leaves aren't supposed to be eaten raw, they're subject to the same limit as vegetables," the farm ministry official said. "We don't have rules on what stage of processing should be restricted. So restricting shipments under these circumstances would only create confusion."
According to international standards, the annual acceptable dose of cesium from food is five millisieverts. If a person were to consume one liter of tea containing 200 becquerels of cesium every day for a year, he or she would consume about one millisievert of radiation.
Tea farmers have been frustrated with the government's indecisiveness on the matter.
Hisao Nakamura, a 74-year-old tea farmer from Minami-Ashigara, said: "We've thrown away all the ichibancha top-quality tea leaves picked so far. That cost us more than 1 million yen."
"The harvest of second-tier nibancha tea is scheduled to start next month, but we need to start preparing now," Nakamura said. "We want them to quickly decide on safety limits for radiation and whether we'll be compensated if we're not allowed to ship our leaves."
-The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network
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