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Boris Johnson gulps down can of peach juice from Fukushima | Boris Johnson gulps down can of peach juice from Fukushima |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Boris Johnson has been filmed drinking a can of peach juice from Fukushima, the Japanese region hit by nuclear disaster after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. | Boris Johnson has been filmed drinking a can of peach juice from Fukushima, the Japanese region hit by nuclear disaster after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. |
The video, tweeted by his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono, shows the Foreign Secretary chugging the can at the Foreign Office in London this week. | The video, tweeted by his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono, shows the Foreign Secretary chugging the can at the Foreign Office in London this week. |
“Very good… Mmm,” he said, before studying the can, a gift from Mr Kono. | “Very good… Mmm,” he said, before studying the can, a gift from Mr Kono. |
The moment was intended to prove that food and drink from Fukushima is safe, seven years after the meltdown at the Daiichi nuclear energy plant – the most serious nuclear incident since the 1988 Chernobyl disaster. | |
More than 50 countries imposed import bans on regional produce following the accident, around half of which remain in place, including restrictions from the US and China. | More than 50 countries imposed import bans on regional produce following the accident, around half of which remain in place, including restrictions from the US and China. |
Earlier this month, the EU said it would ease import restrictions on agricultural items and seafood from the region. | Earlier this month, the EU said it would ease import restrictions on agricultural items and seafood from the region. |
Research published last year showed the radiation released by the disaster may have lingering effects on fish – but that the risk posed to human beings through consumption, in part thanks to strong regulation, is minimal. | |
The study, published in the journal PNAS, shows that freshwater fish and ocean bottom dwellers near Fukushima have a higher risk of contamination with the radioactive chemical caesium than most other types of ocean fish in the same area. | The study, published in the journal PNAS, shows that freshwater fish and ocean bottom dwellers near Fukushima have a higher risk of contamination with the radioactive chemical caesium than most other types of ocean fish in the same area. |
The risk diminishes the further away the fish are from the city’s nuclear facilities – and the research showed there was a relatively low risk of people in Japan consuming contaminated fish. | |
The former London mayor is not the first politician to publicly consume food or drink thought to involve health risks, in an effort to prove it is safe. | |
In 1990, then-Minister of Agriculture John Gummer enlisted his four-year-old daughter to eat a burger with him as part of attempts to demonstrate British beef did not present a danger to people’s health – amid growing fears over Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), commonly referred to as “mad cow disease”. |
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