Radiation in your green tea

[RagingRazor]

hello all, amoung many types of tea, I like to drink japanese green sencha tea, not so much a fan of the macha. But with the radiation problem in Japan, does anyone know if there are tea plantations around the damaged nuclear power site? I often buy this brand of japanese tea which says its grown somewhere near the base of Mt. Fuji which is south of Tokyo. Hopefully there are no tea plantations close by to that site, otherwise buying Japnese tea might become iffy.

[Gallagher]

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15327

It seems most tea production is far away from the plant. A few people from Japan have thrown in their input on the situation as well.

[Erik]

I won't be buying Japanese tea for at least 30,000 years.

[ouch]

To this day, my brother-in-law avoids 1986 Bordeaux.

[Greyfox]

To this day, my brother-in-law avoids 1986 Bordeaux.

Good! That's an outstanding vintage particularly in the Medoc and Margaux. More for me.

[nff]

i dont see any problems. untill someone actualy comes with a valid test showing such and such a vendor is selling radiated tea i dont see a problem.

[BladeDE40]

I think at this point you're in more danger from radiation given off by household items.

Edit: I did just hear on the news though that the US is holding dairy products and produce coming from Japan as recent shipments tested for higher than normal radiation levels.

[ESTEBE VERDE]

I am fairly confident it would be detected very early on and not make it on any "shelves".

[jansob]

Just buy now and stock up...I can't imagine any new stock has made it too the shelves since the quake.

[instpasr]

I think you'll be fine, everything that comes over is going to be swept for contamination at least a couple of times. The worst thing we could do now is abondon our Japense friends now by not buying from them, their economy just took a hugh hit, mind you I'm not saying that's what anyone is doing.

[ouch]

Good! That's an outstanding vintage particularly in the Medoc and Margaux. More for me.

It sure was. I have numerous 86's.

[grasshopper]

[iBrian] The worst thing we could do now is abondon our Japense friends now by not buying from them.

[grasshopper] Completely concur. Well said. Our friends at Yuuki Cha offer this information: "Regarding Parcel Screening – In order for you to get the correct information as to how your country is dealing with screening of parcels from Japan we strongly advice you to directly contact your countries Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (or equivalents in your country). For US customers, we can already inform you that all cargo, including international parcels, from Japan are now being screened to assure safety." I take this quotation from the Yuuki-Cha blog: http://www.yuuki-cha.com/blog/

[netsurfr]

Don't get too excited before you know the details about the radiation. Your watch may be giving you more radiation from the luminous dial than the radiation levels in the tea fields of Japan.

[nff]

this is hibiki-an's statement on the matter:

We at Hibiki-an continue to do business under normal conditions. Kyoto is approximately 800 kilometers (500 miles) southwest of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, therefore the radiation does not reach here in Kyoto and is not detected. All of our merchandise ships from Kansai Airport near Kyoto.
The nuclear power plant affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami is in northeast Japan, north of Tokyo. Even in Tokyo, which is much closer to the nuclear power plant than Kyoto, the detected radioactivity level is minimal and not harmful at all. We are monitoring the situation very closely. Please see below for more information.

Radioactivity Level
- Kyoto (where Hibiki-an is located): None detected
- Tokyo: Under 0.0001mSv (milli sievert) as of March 18

The radioactivity weakens inversely proportional to the square of distance. X-rays and other common radiation levels
0.6 mSv (milli sievert) : X-ray inspection of stomach
1.5 mSv : Ambient or natural radiation that humans are exposed to over 1 year
6.9 mSv : CT breast scan
100 mSv : If exposed to 100 mSv at one time, health damage does not occur.
500 mSv : If exposed to 500 mSv at one time, lymph corpuscle in blood decreases.
(1 milli sievert = 1,000 micro sievert)

[Chado Tea House]

Understand your concern.
Japanese green tea cultivation require warm climate (Fukushima is northern Japan ). There are small farms about 200km away, however the Japanese green tea available in north America likely from other areas such as Shizuoka(500-600km away), Uji (850km) and Kyushu (1300km) so there are quite distances. You mentioned that tea is from near Mt. Fuji means the tea must be from Shizuoka. Mt. Fuji is in Shizuoka prefecture and Shizuoka is the biggest Japanese green tea producing center.

Each prefectures are close monitoring the air and water quality and all of teas leaving the country are monitored as well. So I personally can’t see any risk there and it seems to be rather mental.
I was burn and grew up in Japan and now live in North America; feel fortunate operating Japanese tea house here and enjoy what I do.
In earlier, we had inquiries whether to buying up big or.. we have plenty of stock so our customer can buy big and make stock for later if that make them feel safe though… Always our policy to provide what customers are looking for so we added special selections from southern island, Kyushu. The teas from Kyushu tends to be rich and can be bold. Kagoshima tea is not well known as much as Shizuoka tea, however the second biggest producing center and I personally like those teas from Kyushu. The area makes the taste different. So may be interesting to try out the differences.

Fumicha

[Hornwort]

Still that teensy lingering problem of all the radiated humans.

[klassic1]

Quick rule of thumb if you're remotely concerned about radiation...don't drink the tea, don't eat the tuna.

[Greyfox]

Quick rule of thumb if you're remotely concerned about radiation...don't drink the tea, don't eat the tuna.

Might want to stay out of the sun, don't fly and do not watch television as well.

[klassic1]

Might want to stay out of the sun, don't fly and do not watch television as well.

Ya! thats the ticket!...

[Doc4]

Quick rule of thumb if you're remotely concerned about radiation...don't drink the tea, don't eat the tuna.

Might want to stay out of the sun, don't fly and do not watch television as well.

... it seems to be rather mental.