Thais to destroy potatoes with traces of radiation

The Thai Food and Drug Administration says the sweet potatoes had radiation levels well below the that which the World Health Organization considers hazardous. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

BANGKOK - THAI authorities say they will destroy a shipment of sweet potatoes from Japan because they were found to have traces of radiation.

The Thai Food and Drug Administration says the sweet potatoes had radiation levels well below the that which the World Health Organization considers hazardous.

The tubers were found to have Iodine-131 levels of 15.25 Becquerel per kilogram. The hazardous threshold is 100 Becquerel per kilogram.

The agency said on Tuesday the shipment would be destroyed as a precaution.

Naturally occurring radiation can be found in almost everything in the world and the agency didn't say what normal levels of radiation in sweet potatoes would be nor whether any random tuber tested in Bangkok might have similar traces of radiation. -- AP