Yan Weixing, a researcher with the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, said pesticide residue, which he believed was unavoidable in a modernized world, would pose no threat to humans if it is controlled within the normal range and its risks are fully gauged before use.

Yan also pledged that the health authorities would tighten supervision over pesticides when he was asked to respond to an alleged wine contamination case during a Health Ministry press conference.

The Securities Market Weekly, a Chinese financial magazine, carried a report on Aug. 9 saying that 10 wine products from three Chinese wine makers were sample tested and found to contain excessive levels of pesticide residues carbendazim and metalaxyl.

High doses of carbendazim, a widely-used fungicide, could cause infertility issues and could possibly lead to liver cancer, according to the magazine.

Following the report, the board of directors of Changyu, a leading Chinese wine maker whose products were listed among the samples, issued a statement on its official website on Aug. 11, saying all its products were up to national standards.

Song Quanhou, deputy head of the China National Research Institute of Food & Fermentation Industries, who signed the sample test report, told the media on Aug. 11 that the samples could not be identified as Changyu products and no past record has shown that the company’s products were contaminated by pesticides.

According to the results of the sample test, the amount of carbendazim contained in the wine samples ranged from 0.00157mg/kg to 0.01942 mg/kg, below the maximum pesticide residue limits set by the EU and China, which are set at 0.5 mg/kg and 3mg/kg, respectively. The amount of metalaxyl in the wine samples ranged from 0.00211mg/kg to 0.01414 mg/kg, below the maximum pesticide residue limits in the EU and China, which are both set at 1 mg/kg.

Whether fresh, frozen or processed, all molluscan shellfish that came to the US from South Korea before May 1 are to be removed. According to the FDA, these products and any products made with them may have been exposed to human fecal waste, and they are potentially contaminated with norovirus.

According to the Health Ministry of Japan, the food banning is due to E. coli — a potentially deadly strain of the pathogen called O-157. Because it can produce a powerful toxin, it can cause serious illness, even in small doses. The food-safety panel said its verdict is the only preventative measure effective enough to ensure consumer health, following tests that showed the pathogen can fester inside the meat as well as on its surface.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Researchers from the farm, working with scientists from Stony Brook University, say they found the radiation in bluefin tuna in waters near San Diego. But before sushi fans change their eating habits, the researchers were quick to point out that the radiation levels were not believed to be high enough to threaten human health.

Nicholas Fisher, a professor at Stony Brook and a co-author of the study, said while her team was surprised by the results there is no reason for panic.

“All living things are radioactive,” he said. “Primarily attributable to the naturally occurring potassium-40.  The potassium-40 radioactivity in the bluefin tuna was over 30 times higher than that from the radioactive cesium.  So, the radioactivity from the spill really only adds 3 percent more radioactivity than the background level.”

In March 2011, a tsunami caused flooding at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan, which led to a failure of the plant’s cooling system.

The overheated plant spilled radioactive water into the sea. Scientists have been monitoring the ocean since, waiting to see if that material would make its way to California.

Japan in particular has been monitoring the sea life off of its coast for radioactive material but few were watching the animals as they migrated away from the country’s water.

Cans of “Geisha Whole Oysters in Water” and “Crown Prince Whole Oysters in Water” were removed with full cooperation of a local retail store, which wasn’t identified in a Department of Public Health and Social Services press release.

Cans of this oyster brand were pulled out from local stores

“The DPHSS has contacted the major wholesalers and retainers and alerted the Guam Customs and Quarantined Agency to seize all Korean shellfish that is imported at our ports of entry,” the press release states. “Inspections of local retail and wholesale facilities are currently being conducted toe ensure that these food products are removed from shelves.”

The products are being pulled from shelves all around the country because of a recent decision by the Food and Drug Administration, which determined that the Korean Shellfish Sanitation Program does not meet American health standards.

The FDA has said the Korean program doesn’t do enough to project shellfish from land-based pollution or human fecal matter, and that FDA tests have found nonvirus in selfish growing areas, the press release states.

To date, there have no reported illnesses attributed to consumption of Korean shellfish on Guam and in the United States in 2012, according to the press release. For more info, visit the www.fda.gov.