Greenpeace Discloses Supermarkets' Actions against Radioactively Contaminated Fish

Greenpeace, a globally campaigning environmental NGO (nongovernmental organization) disclosed on November 24, 2011, the results of a questionnaire survey on preventive actions taken against radioactively contaminated fishery products by five major Japanese supermarkets including Aeon, Itoyokado, UNY (Apita), Daiei and Seiyu.

The Supermarket Ranking for Fish Safety, in which the NGO summed up responses, shows the graded rankings of supermarkets in five categories: purchasing criteria, sales criteria, radioactivity monitoring system, information disclosure to consumers, and lobbying the government.

Aeon stood first, gaining the (A)* rating in all the five categories, followed by Itoyokado, gaining two (A)s and three (B)s. Third was Daiei, followed by UNY (Apita), and Seiyu came in last.

*(A): Very Good, (B): Good, (C): Not Good

Taking the requests of Greenpeace and consumers into account, Aeon decided to voluntarily increase the range of items monitored for radioactivity, and adopt its own sales control levels unconstrained by the radioactive limits temporarily set by the government, which were thought to be too high. Itoyokado, at its stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area, has also started to label some fishery products with sea areas in which they were caught. These preemptive actions taken by the two supermarkets were reflected in the rankings.

A Brief History of the Environmental Movement in Japan (Part II)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/mailmagazine/newsletter/pages/029265.html

Posted: 2012/03/19 06:00:15 AM