At the 11th meeting of the Ramsar Convention for wetlands, a draft resolution was introduced that came dangerously close to open a back door to genetically modified rice. Rice paddy fields in many countries are supporting wildlife such as migratory birds and marine species. The use of pesticides have caused much damage to such sensitive [...]
Consumers protest against the radiation limits for food: We strongly protest against the old provisional limit for radioactive contamination of food, while asking the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) to reexamine the new limits Protest Letter To: Komiyama Yoko Minister of Health December 27, 2011 First of all, we protest against the provisional [...]
Some General Observations from the Consumer Perspective Regarding Food Safety in Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster on March 11, 2011 20110711 Regarding Food Safety (PDF version) July 11, 2011 Martin J. Frid Consumers Union of Japan The effects of the extraordinary catastrophe on March 11, 2011 in northeastern Japan are difficult [...]
Writers Winnifred Bird and Elizabeth Grossman has written a very interesting article about the pollution issues and potential health effects in Tohoku. They note that damage to the region’s industrial facilities has been extensive: Oil refineries burst into flames in the days after the disaster, sending black smoke billowing into the air. Sewer and gas lines [...]
To: Food Safety Commission From: Food Safety Citizens Watch & Consumers Union of Japan March 24, 2011 Regarding Limits for Radioactive Substances in Food On March 20, Japan’s Food Safety Commission received a request from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for opinions regarding regulation limits for radioactive materials in the Food Sanitation [...]
“Only good things will come from the clean water that flows in the stream, when only good things are put into the water…” Notes from a lecture by Mr. Uozumi Michio, Japan Organic Agriculture Association, on December 9, 2009 as part of Consumers Union of Japan’s seminar series about safe living, connecting food and agriculture [...]
Consumers Union of Japan and the Food Safety Citizens’ Watch are involved in the efforts to get to the bottom of the proposed move of Tsukiji, Tokyo’s famous fish market. FSCW notes that the new site at Toyosu is an old factory site in Koto Ward once operated by Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. This 40 hectares site was [...]
FSCW General Meeting Special Lecture: “Hair analysis as a possible way to investigate heavy metal pollution – interim report” by Dr. Hiroshi Yasuda, Director of La Belle Vie Preventive Medicine Laboratory Summary of Lecture by Hiroshi Yasuda April 26, 2008 Tokyo, Japan We have conducted investigations to determine the degree of heavy metal pollution in [...]
Press Release (pdf) Food Safety Citizens’ Watch The Chinese Meat Dumplings Scandal: The Responsibility of the Government must be Questioned It was reported today that five people including children in Ichikawa-shi, Chiba prefecture had been hospitalized due to food poisoning after eating frozen meat dumplings purchased in a supermarket in the same city. The organic [...]
Saturday Nov. 3, 2007: Plastic Incineration Rise Draws Ire Environmentalists unswayed by limited tests, fears risks (Quote:) Yasuko Ueda, a writer and outspoken activist with the Tokyo-based Consumers Union of Japan, a nongovernmental organization, noted that the government has invoked the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law to require that plastics be re-used as “resources” to [...]
