Imported food from Japan
New Zealand imports very little food from Japan. These imports are limited to a small range of specialty products, such as small volumes of seaweed and sake as well as other Japanese specialty food products including mirin, soy sauce, dried noodles, pickled ginger, wasabi.
The area affected by the earthquake is not a major food production area, and certainly not a major food exporting region. Additionally, Japanese officials have said that food production in the affected area has been halted and therefore food from this area would not be available for export.
At this point in time MAF has no information to suggest that any export-bound food from Japan has been contaminated and exported. We will continue to work with Food Standards Australia New Zealand in monitoring the situation.