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Le Bernardin Tests For Radiation As Sushi Lovers Panic
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 6, 2011
Modified Apr 6, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 6, 2011
Modified Apr 6, 2011
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Since the tragedy in Japan left the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant teetering on the edge of a meltdown, alarms have been raised about radioactive materials spilling in the water. And some NYers are particularly worried about their favorite delicacy: sushi. It's a serious enough concern to Chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin that he has bought a radiation detector: “I just want to make sure whatever we use is safe...Nobody knows how the currents will carry the contaminated water," he told the Times.
Health officials have assured the public that radiation is unlikely to show up in the food supply, and the FDA is inspecting all food imports from Japan to be safe—about four percent of our food imports come from there. Even so, Patricia A. Hansen, a senior scientist at the FDA, acknowledged the fallacies of the radiation-detecting technology: “One fish that might be at an intervention level in a huge cargo container, we’re not going to pick that up. But the important context is, is that one fish at the intervention level a public health concern? No, it is not.”
Nicholas Fisher, a professor of marine sciences at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, was a little less assured, and a little less reassuring, that everything would be copacetic: "You’re not going to die from eating it right away, but we’re getting to levels where I would think twice about eating it.” He did clarify that according to some radiation safety guidelines, people could safely eat 35 pounds of fish each year containing the level of cesium 137 detected in the Japanese fish.
Dovina William, who works at Ging Sushi and Asian Restaurant on the Upper East Side, told the Post that "maybe 25 percent" of their customers have started asking where their rolls came from. But as Trevor Corson, author of the book "The Story of Sushi," points out, people are assuming that our sushi is coming straight from Japan: "I was surprised. It made me realize that people have no idea that most of the fish isn't coming from Japan." But that doesn't mean the sushi industry hasn't been taking some heavy losses along the way: "No way would I eat sushi in a million years," said Ben Goldhagen, a Manhattan real-estate broker. Well, for what it's worth, sushi would think twice before eating you any time in the next million years, SIR!
Tagged
eric ripert
fukushima
japan
le bernardin
sushi
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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