Consumers Union of Japan – Page 27 – Sound and Healthy Future for Our Children

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Sound and Healthy Future for Our Children

How to Reduce the Use of Plastics?

A world-wide debate about the dangers of plastic pollution has led to the introduction of stricter laws in many countries. Japan seems to lag behind so far, but consumers can start reducing the use of plastics in many ways. Many people already bring their cloth bags to the supermarket when you go shopping. In some shops, you get a 2 Yen reduction on the price, but if everyone was serious about it, and the amount raised to 10 Yen or even more, the effect would be immediate.

In the Sugiura household, we tried to reduce the amount of plastic wrapping for food. It wasn’t an immediate success as not everyone went along with the plan. However, little steps can have remarkable consequences. Consumers Union of Japan is asking readers and members to contribute with their own creative proposals.

Essay: The Bizarre World of Plastics

When plastic materials were first discovered, they were brittle and fragile. Thus, a number of additives and “plasticizers” were introduced to counter the effects of ultraviolet light and make the materials more flexible and useful. Flame retardants were introduced as well. By the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, plastic pollution intensified. Plastic materials must be disposed of, making the garbage problem severe. In Tokyo, the toxic air pollution from the Yume-no-shima incinerators created health problems as increasing amounts of trash were thrown away by consumers.

No thought went into what would happen to plastic materials that were left in the environment. The degradation takes time. Plastic materials basically just turn into smaller plastic fragments. It becomes an invisible danger as animals ingest the fragments, even entering the human food chain. In spite of this, the makers of plastic materials, including Showa Denko, Mitsubishi Chemical, BASF and Du Pont, claim that their novel products are bio-degradable. This has led to the rather bizarre state of the world we are now facing, where the idea that plastics can simply be thrown away has been increasingly promoted.

By Amagasa Keisuke, CUJ

By fridfrid | 22/08/2018 | Chemical pollution, Environment, Waste |

In the News: “Gov’t committee’s GMO deregulation proposal too hasty: consumer groups, experts”

Consumers Union of Japan has been active in the debate about regulation of GMOs since the mid 1990 and firmly believe the new technologies, such as gene editing, must be strictly regulated. CUJ’s stance is that any such experiments should be stopped to avoid serious adverse effects on human health and the environment.

August 21, 2018 (Mainichi Japan)

TOKYO — Consumer groups are taking aim at Aug. 20 recommendations by an Environment Ministry expert committee that some genetically modified organisms (GMO) be deregulated.

The expert committee proposed deregulation of organisms edited to remove or deactivate certain genes as opposed to adding new code, but critics are claiming this is “the same as genetic manipulation,” and that it is “strange” to exempt it from government restrictions.

“They (the committee) came to this conclusion after just two meetings. How can they say it’s safe?” said Consumers Union of Japan secretariat chief Michiyo Koketsu. “We need a debate that includes a wide range of experts, not just a small section of the research community.”

Research is already well underway in Japan on creating meatier red sea bream by disabling a gene that suppresses muscle growth. In cases like these — of disabling genes as opposed to replacing or recombining DNA — if the edited fish went to market without any report to the government, how could it be distinguished from organisms created through gene manipulation? Inspectors can identify organisms created through gene replacement by the DNA added to the plant’s or animal’s genome. However, in organisms with a disabled gene, it is impossible to tell if this was the result of deliberate editing or natural environmental factors.

Some critics have also pointed to the risk of harmful genetic edits, such as creating allergens by deleting a gene by mistake.
(more…)

By fridfrid | 22/08/2018 | Biodiversity, Biotechnology |

International Symposium: Report from South Korea Meeting About Labelling of GM Food

The demand for better labelling of genetically modified food is rising in South Korea. With citizens taking the lead, over 200,000 people signed a petition in March, 2018 and was officially submitted to the government, but no response has yet been coming forward.

On July 19, 2018 an international symposium will be held in Seoul with invited specialists from Japan and the United States, to discuss the current status of GM food labelling. The hosts are different South Korean civil society organizations. Consumers Union of Japan and Seikatsu Club will be representing Japan.

We will hold an event in Tokyo on July 24, 2018 to discuss the current efforts to improve the GM food labelling in South Korea, Japan and the US.

Date: July 24, 2018 (Tuesday) 13:30-15:30
Place: Tokyo Women’s Plaza
The nearest station: The subway Omotesando station B2 exit or the JR Shibuya station Miyamasuzaka exit
Entrance fee: The general public: 800 yen (CUJ members 500 yen)
Reservation isn’t necessary.
Speakers
● Ryoko Shimizu (Seikatsu Club)
● Michiyo Koketsu (CUJ Secretary-general)
● Hirouchi Kaori (CUJ)

By fridfrid | 18/07/2018 | Biotechnology, Food |

Japan Resources – No 171

Please click here CUJ-JR-171 for the latest issue of Japan Resources, our English newsletter.

This time, we can’t help but muse over the issue that the country, and the world, is in the grip of football fever as the Football World Cup is promoted as never before. Large companies take this opportunity to splash billions of Yen not for the sake of encouraging healthy exercise but to push more junk food to the couch potatoes watching the games. Among them, food and beverage corporations Coca Cola, McDonald’s and Budweizer probably do not make a single healthy product between them.

We hope you will continue to stay updated with CUJ’s activities and news on our English website, and support our campaigns!

Contents:

Food Industry & Supermarkets: Food Additives and Transportation Networks Helped Create Oligopoly Control over Our Food

Concerns about Japan’s MagLev Train Project

Japan-Korea-Taiwan Non-GMO Asia Forum established

Japan’s Soy Sauce Makers Replied to Our GM-Free Labelling Questionnaire

Channel Nishoren Now on Youtube!

By fridfrid | 20/06/2018 | Uncategorized |

Food Industry & Supermarkets

Much has happened since the first supermarkets opened in Japan. The first is said to be Kinokuniya in Tokyo (1953), followed by Maruwa in Kita-Kyushu (1956). The initial reaction was that they would sell cheap and bad food, with cynics sneering at the katakana name, “suupa” (short for super). The expansion of the country’s transportation network made it possible to create high growth and massive profits were made.

The other factor behind the success that should not be forgotten was the appearance of artificial food additives. Bread with up to 30 food additives became the norm, and could be sold cheaply because of its long shelf-life. Products could also be shipped and sold nation-wide. In 1962, before the supermarket boom, Japan had 14,823 bakeries. The industry was soon ruled by the giant company Yamazaki Baking, and the number of bakeries dwindled to 4190 by 1971.

Of course this kind of trend did not just happen to the bakeries. Japan’s Fair Trade Commission has released data indicating that three major companies now dominate all sectors in a way that we can call oligopoly control. For frozen food, the largest three control 59.7% (Nichirei alone controls 32.8%), instant noodles 61.3% (Sanyo 31.3%), instant coffee 94.8 (Nestle 67.7%), whiskey 94.7% (Suntory 64.3%), and soy sauce 43.0% (Kikkoman 31.2%). Over half a century since the trend of industrial production with food additives made highly processed food possible, supermarkets continue to sell these items in large quantities. There is no doubt that our children’s health is increasingly under threat.

By Amagasa Keisuke, CUJ

June 12, 2018

By fridfrid | 20/06/2018 | Food, Food Additives |