Concentration of radioactive cesium in domestic foods collected from the Japanese market in fiscal years 2014-2016

Between fiscal years 2014 and 2016, we surveyed the concentration of radioactive cesium in commercial foods produced in areas where there is a risk of radiation contamination due to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The number of samples with a concentration of radioactive cesium that exceeded the regulatory limit（100 Bq/kg for general foods）was 9 out of 1,516（0.6％）in fiscal 2014, 12 out of 900（1.3％）in fiscal 2015, and 10 out of 654（1.5％）in fiscal 2016. Even though some samples were expected to be contaminated with radioactive cesium, because wild mushrooms and edible wild plants were intentionally included in this survey, the percentage of samples that exceeded the regulatory limit was only around 1％. The surveillance results confirmed that the pre-shipment food monitoring conducted by local governments was properly and efficiently performed, although continuous monitoring of the concentration of radioactive cesium in cultivated and wild mushrooms, edible wild plants, and wild animal meats is still required.