TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Radiation has been detected on fava beans imported from Japan to Taiwan, Taiwanese officials said Sunday, in what appears to be the first case of contamination in Japanese exports.
The disclosure came a day after Japanese officials said radiation in low amounts had been detected in spinach and milk produced near the damaged Fukushima nuclear power complex in northeast Japan that has been leaking radiation since being damaged by an earthquake and tsunami March 11.
Taiwan's Cabinet-level Atomic Energy Council Radiation Monitoring Center said in a statement that a small amount of iodine and cesium had been found on a batch of Japanese fava beans imported to the island on Friday. The center said 11 becquerels of iodine and 1 becquerel of cesium were detected.
The amount of radiation was well below Taiwan's legal limit and not harmful to human health, an official from the center told The Associated Press.
The radiation was detected on the surface of the beans in one batch, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to deal with the media.
An official from Taiwan's Department of Health said the beans came from the Kagoshima Prefecture on Japan's northern Kyushu island. The official said the Taiwanese authorities suspected the batch was contaminated during its delivery route to the island rather than in Kagoshima because the prefecture is still far from Fukushima, home to Japan's damaged nuclear reactors.
So far, Taiwanese officials do not have an answer as to how the beans may have been contaminated. The health official said that the shipment went through Japan's Narita Airport, which is 140 miles (220 kilometers) from Fukushima, but he cautioned there was no evidence to prove the batch was contaminated at the airport. He added the beans have not gone into circulation in Taiwan and will not be made available for sale.
The official said that while Taiwan has been stepping up measures scanning Japanese goods for radiation, it does not plan to suspend imports from its northern neighbor for now.
The health official also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Japanese officials said Saturday that tainted milk and spinach were collected from farms ranging from 20 miles (30 kilometers) to 75 miles (120 kilometers) from the leaking nuclear reactors.
The area is rich farm country where a variety of foods are grown. Other tests are being conducted, and Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said food shipments from the area would be halted if further contamination was detected.
Japanese officials said the radiation amounts in the milk and spinach were so small that people would have to consume unimaginable amounts to endanger their health.