#Radioactive Baby Formula from Meiji: "No Effect on Health", Ministry of Health Assures Parents

The Ministry of Health and Labor, one of whose mandates is to protect consumers, quoted from Asahi Shinbun (12/6/2011), in a typical bureaucratic convolution:

３０ベクレルを検出した粉ミルクの安全性について担当者は「飲む際にはさらに薄まる。健康への影響はないと言える」と話している。

The person in charge [at the Ministry of Health and Labor] says about the safety of the powdered milk that has been found with 30 becquerels/kg [of radioactive cesium], "It will be further diluted when consumed. It can be said that there will be no effect on health."

Oh is that so? Are you sure?

Here's a log-scale chart of daily radioactive cesium intake from 1974 to 2002 per person in Japan. A slight spike after the Chernobyl accident, but it has been the steady trend downward from max 1 becquerel/person/day in 1974 to max 0.1 becquerel/person/day, with minimum close to 0.01 becquerel/person/day. (The chart is from @tomynyo.)

A 6-month old baby drinks 4 cans of powdered milk per month, I was told. The net weight of a can of Meiji Step milk is 850 grams, so the baby would consume 3.4 kilograms (850 grams x 4) of the powdered milk per month. 3.4 kilograms of the powdered milk would contain 102 becquerels of radioactive cesium (30 becquerels/kg x 3.4). The baby would be fed with 3.4 becquerels of radioactive cesium per day.

That would be 34 to 340 times more than the pre-Fukushima accident level of radioactive cesium intake per person per day.

But bureaucrats at the Ministry of Health are confident. No effect on health. One expert chimes in with his tweet, saying "We shouldn't be hurting the feelings of mothers who have fed their babies with this formula by making a big deal out of it. We shouldn't make them feel worried or regret". He continues by implying the amount of radioactive cesium is too small to cause any effect.

(UPDATE: Infants at one nursery school in Utsunomiya City in Tochigi Prefecture have been fed with this contaminated milk, according to the city. If you read Japanese, here's the link to Yomiuri Shinbun Tochigi local version.)

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Radioactive Baby Formula: 30.8 Becquerels/Kg of Cesium from Powdered Milk by Meiji

The manufacturer will replace 400,000 cans of its baby formula free of charge.

The brand that radioactive cesium has been found is "Meiji Step", a formula designed for infants 9 months and older.

As the article by Sponichi below states, Meiji is the largest manufacturer of baby formulas with 40% market share. Meiji did its own testing and disclosed the number. Will other makers follow suit?

From Sponichi Annex (12/6/2011):

食品大手の明治（東京）が製造、販売する粉ミルク「明治ステップ」から、最大で１キログラム当たり３０・８ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出されたことが６日、同社の調査で分かった。詳しい混入経緯は不明だが、同社は東京電力福島第１原発事故に伴うものとみている。

"Meiji Step", a baby formula manufactured and sold by Meiji (headquartered in Tokyo), one of the largest food manufacturers in Japan, has been found with the maximum 30.8 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium by the company's testing. It is not known how radioactive cesium was mixed in, but the company thinks it is due to the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

　厚生労働省によると、原発事故後に粉ミルクからセシウムが検出されたのは初めて。明治は約４０万缶を対象に、無償交換する方針。

According to the Ministry of Health and Labor, it is the first time that radioactive cesium is found in the baby formula, after the nuclear plant accident. Meiji will replace about 400,000 cans free of charge.

　国が定める粉ミルクの暫定基準値（１キログラム当たり２００ベクレル）は下回っている。乳児は大人より放射性物質の影響を受けやすいとの指摘があり、厚労省は近く新たに「乳児用食品」の基準値を設定する方針を決めている。

The level of radioactive cesium is below the provisional safety limit by the national government for baby formula (200 becquerels/kg). It has been pointed out that infants are more susceptible to the effect of radioactive materials than adults, and the Ministry of Health and Labor is to set the new standard for "baby foods".

　明治によると、セシウムが検出されたのは賞味期限が２０１２年１０月４日、同２１日、同２２日、同２４日の製品。日付は缶の底に記されている。

According to Meiji, the effective dates of the baby formula that has been found with radioactive cesium are: October 4, October 21, October 22, and October 24, 2012. The effective date is on the bottom of the can.

　明治は国内の粉ミルク販売シェア約４割の最大手。

Meiji is the largest manufacturer of baby formulas in Japan, with about 40% market share.

Additional information from Nikkei Shinbun (12/6/2011):

同社によると、無償交換する40万缶は、埼玉県春日部市の工場で３月14～20日に牛乳を乾燥させる工程を経た製品。原料の牛乳には、３月11日以前に加工された北海道産などを使用していた。同社は、大量の空気を当てる過程で、東京電力福島第１原子力発電所事故で放出された大気中の放射性セシウムが混ざったとみている。

According to Meiji, 400,000 cans of the formula were processed in Meiji's factory in Kasukabe City in Saitama Prefecture, whereby the milk was dried between March 14 to 20. The raw milk came from Hokkaido, which was processed before March 11. The company thinks that during the process to air the milk to dry, airborne radioactive cesium released from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident was mixed in.

So, Meiji was manufacturing powdered milk in the worst possible period. March 14 was when Reactor 3 blew up. Reactor 4 blew up (or made a loud noise and smoke was observed, according to TEPCO) the next day, and something really bad happened in the Suppression Chamber of Reactor 2, though no one says what it was. And still unexplained events happened on March 20 that spiked the radiation levels all over Tohoku and Kanto. And the company was airing the raw milk, without knowing the radioactive plume was hitting wide areas in eastern Japan.

The government knew. Many nuclear experts and researchers knew. No one bothered to tell the public. Some were threatened with termination or end of their careers. Some say they feared for widespread panic. Yet others were just collecting data so that they would be able to publish in a prestigious magazine several months later.

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