Citizens do not need to follow the example of overseas salt hoarding, as Guangdong's salt supply is safe and sufficient

Japan announced the launch of the Fukushima nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea on the afternoon of the 24th, which has sparked widespread global attention and discussion, and some overseas markets have experienced a phenomenon of salt rush buying.

Some consumers in Guangdong are concerned about the impact of Japan's nuclear contaminated water discharge on the safety of salt supply in our province. Southern+reporters interviewed Guangdong Salt Industry Group on relevant issues. As the only provincial-level salt production, transportation, and reserve enterprise in Guangdong Province, the group bears the responsibility of Guangdong's salt government reserves and supply guarantee.

Guangdong Province, cities, and enterprises have sufficient salt reserves

Salt, as a special type of food, has a strict and complete standard system for the quality testing of salt in the country.

Among them, sea salt is made from seawater as raw material, naturally exposed to sunlight, without adding chemicals, and retains various minerals and trace elements required by the human body, such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and other elements.

At present, sea salt accounts for over one-third of the share in the Guangdong salt market. Coastal residents have always enjoyed using sea salt to cook ingredients since ancient times. The ecological sea salt produced on the Leizhou Peninsula in Zhanjiang, Guangdong is particularly popular.

Japan has initiated the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea, and the supply and safety of sea salt have received widespread attention and discussion. Some overseas markets, such as South Korea and Japan, have seen a surge in salt purchases.

According to the person in charge of Guangdong Salt Industry Group, currently, the provincial and municipal governments have 108000 tons of salt reserves and corporate social responsibility reserves, covering 100% of the administrative regions of all cities and counties in the province. This can quickly and timely respond, ensuring sufficient supply of salt for the people of Guangdong, and calling on citizens not to panic or imitate "hoarding salt".

Regular monitoring of Guangdong seawater will be conducted

Radioactive element testing

After the nuclear leak in Fukushima in 2011, China has implemented stricter testing standards for imported food from Japan. Since 2012, the monitoring of radioactive substances in food has been included in the scope of national food safety risk monitoring. The standards for radioactive substances have also been established in our country for a long time, such as the national standard "Limit Concentration Standards for Radioactive Substances in Food" established in 1994, which stipulates the residual limits of 12 radioactive substances in various types of food. At the same time, there are also "General Rules for the Inspection of Radioactive Substances in Food" and "Determination of Hydrogen 3 in the Inspection of Radioactive Substances in Food".

In response to the news that Japan has initiated the discharge of Fukushima nuclear contaminated water into the sea, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment recently stated that the country attaches great importance to the issue of Japan's Fukushima nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea. In 2021 and 2022, China organized and carried out monitoring of the marine radiation environment in the waters under its jurisdiction, and understood the current background situation of the marine radiation environment in relevant waters. The monitoring results indicate that the activity concentration of artificial radioactive nuclides in the seawater and marine organisms under China's jurisdiction is normal and generally within the range of fluctuations over the years.

At present, the country is organizing the monitoring of marine radiation environment in China's jurisdictional waters for the year 2023 in accordance with the concept of monitoring key areas, covering jurisdictional waters, and mastering key channels. We will continue to strengthen monitoring work and timely track and assess the potential impact of Fukushima nuclear contaminated water discharge on China's marine radiation environment.

Since Japan announced the trial operation and discharge of nuclear contaminated water, we have conducted research on the seawater and ecological sea salt in the main sea salt production areas of Guangdong Province α、β The third-party sample testing of the radioactive project shows that the current Guangdong sea salt is safe. So, while everyone remains vigilant, there is no need to worry excessively The person in charge introduced that all Cantonese salt products purchased through legitimate channels meet national standards and can be consumed with confidence.

"We will continue to closely monitor the seawater quality information released by the national and Guangdong provincial environmental protection departments, regularly conduct radioactive element testing on Guangdong seawater, and closely monitor whether salt products are contaminated to ensure the quality and supply safety of Guangdong salt industry's salt products," the person in charge said.