Japan to ban bananas
JAPAN is to ban bananas! This fuss over the radiation from the Japanese nuclear disaster is really getting just a touch out of hand. For they’ve just passed a law which seems to mean that bananas will be banned.
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.
Bananas are about 130 Bq a kilo you see. Meaning of course that we’re all now dead from the mashed nana we had for tea when toddlers.
Ho hum, but then people do seem to get very weird when we talk about radiation. It’s worth remembering that the nuclear part of the disaster (sure, the tsunami killed 20,000, but the nuclear part of it) has killed absolutely no one as yet. In fact, we’ll never actually know whether it ever does kill anyone at all as the effects of the levels of radiation released are simply too small. Too small to be seen against the random fluctuations of the things that people die from.
Just think, no one in Japan will ever again see, live, Maria Sharapova eating a banana. Ask yourself this, is this really worth it?
Posted: 2nd, April 2012 | In: Money Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
