Radiation Found in Japanese Baby Formula

Levels not high enough to pose health risk, parents told
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 8, 2011 1:01 AM CST
Radiation Found in Japanese Baby Formula
Some 400,000 of this brand of canned powdered milk for infants has been recalled.   (AP Photo/Meiji Co.)

Nearly nine months after the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami wrought havoc on Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, the country's nuclear nightmare is continuing. Traces of radiation have been found in infant formula for the first time and while government experts say the levels aren't high enough to affect health, parents are panicking. A manufacturer has recalled 400,000 cans of the formula, which was produced when the disaster hit in March at a factory 125 miles away.

"This is not a development that buys confidence in the government's claim that everything is fine," a Greenpeace spokesman in Tokyo tells the Los Angeles Times. "Even if the radiation levels in the formula are low, children are more at risk than are adults of getting cancer and other illnesses from radiation exposure. Any exposure to radiation is a risk, especially for infants. This isn't something newborns should be faced with. For them, the risk should be zero." (More Fukushima Daiichi stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X