Fish with 2,500 Times the Radiation Limit Found Off Coast of Japan
Here at Foodbeast, we’re pretty hardcore seafood fans, but we’re not picky. Generally, we’ll eat anything as long as it’s fresh, tasty, and preferably not radioactive. It’s that last bit that’s proving to be a problem for Fukushima, Japan, where a fish caught last Friday was reported to contain more than 2,500 times the legal limit for radiation in seafood (that roughly translates 2,500,000,000 times the Foodbeast staff’s tolerance for nuclear radiation in our sushi). The fish was probably exposed to radiation after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan caused a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The nuclear contamination resulting from the “worst accidental release of radiation to the ocean in history” forced Japan to halt all commercial fishing in Fukushima and ban beef, milk, mushrooms, and vegetables from being produced in the areas around the plant. After the discovery of the toxic fish, Japanese officials are placing enormous nets up to fifteen miles offshore in an attempt to prevent contaminated fish from migrating into fishing nets and onto dinner plates around the world.
H/T Le Monde