WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it will halt imports of dairy products and produce from the area of Japan where a reactor is leaking radiation.
The FDA said those foods will be detained at entry and will not be sold to the public. The agency previously said it would just step up screening of those foods.
Other foods imported from Japan, including seafood, still will be sold to the public but screened first for radiation.
Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex has been leaking radiation after it was damaged in a devastating earthquake and tsunami earlier this month. The sea near the nuclear plant has also shown elevated levels of radioactive iodine and cesium, prompting the government to test seafood.
Japanese foods make up less than 4 percent of all U.S. imports, and the FDA said it expects no risk to the U.S. food supply from radiation.
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