It would seem that in the wake of the Fukushima disaster (you know, that nuclear disaster that hasn't killed anyone at all and which will have such a small effect that we'll never know whether it ever will) that the Japanese government has just decided to ban bananas.
Under the new rules, the limit for general foodstuffs such as fruit, vegetables, rice, seafood and meat is 100 becquerels of radiation per kilogram, down from 500 prior to April 1. The limit for milk, baby food and infant formula is 50 becquerels per kilogram. For drinking water and tea leaves, it is 10 becquerels per kilogram.
The ministry said local municipalities will be responsible for carrying out testing and that any item measuring above the set standard will not be permitted to be sold.
The problem is that bananas are naturally radioactive. One banana has perhaps 15 Bq, there are usually more than 6 or 7 bananas to a kilo of them and thus a kilo of bananas has more than 100 Bq. And as for Brazil nuts, these are actually so radioactive that if you take them into a nuclear installation you cannot take them out again. They're too radioactive, go over the limits for what a nuclear installation is allowed to release into the environment. It is possible that this nuts story is apocryphal of course but I wouldn't bet against it being true.
There is one possible get out here:
The health ministry says no food or drink product will be permitted to be sold if it has radioactive cesium above the government-set limit.
The law is supposed to apply to those foods which are contaminated with cesium and bananas get their radioactivity from potassium (and Brazil nuts from radium). However:
The ministry said local municipalities will be responsible for carrying out testing and that any item measuring above the set standard will not be permitted to be sold.
I know that Japan is an extremely efficient country but who really thinks that local municipalities are going to be testing for which isotope of which element is producing the radiation? Yes, quite, it's going to be a quick brush with a Geiger counter isn't it? And again yes, a pile of bananas in the local supermarket will set one off. That's something you can actually go and test if you should be so inclined (and have access to a counter).
So while the law itself might have been narrowly written it may well not work out that way. It really is possible that bananas will be found to fall foul of this new law.
