Fish and vegetables grown near the old Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan can be freely sold in Britain after the Food Standards Agency (FSA) scrapped a rule on radioactivity levels in produce.
The Fukushima nuclear disaster on 11 March 2011 at the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma, Fukushima, was the most severe nuclear accident in the world since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson met the Japananese leader Fumio Kishida and tucked into some “Fukushima popcorn” gifted to him in celebration of the lifted restrictions.
The FSA said: “Our risk assessment shows that removing the 100 becquerels per kilogram (Bq/kg) maximum level of radiocaesium for food imported from Japan to the UK would result in a negligible increase in dose and any associated risk to UK consumers.
“Without specific import controls, the emphasis would fall on food businesses to ensure food is safe under General Food Law. However, we would not recommend businesses need to take any precautions beyond their normal due diligence.”
Two of the UK’s biggest supermarkets, Waitrose and Tesco have however said they had no immediate plans to introduce the items in store.