Radioactivity Tests

● Radioactive Substance Tests for Products
　We started conducting radioactive substance tests on manufactured products in November 2011. The inspection equipment that we use is "LB2045," a highly sensitive NaI (TI) gamma-ray spectrometer (detection threshold: 1 Bq/kg) made by Berthold Technologies.
　Our product standard for radioactivity is below 4 Bq/kg (total for radioactive cesium-134 and -137). We have been testing every production lot since installing the equipment. So far, there have been no reports of products exceeding this standard.

● Origins of the Raw Materials
　After the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster, we received a large volume of inquiries about the origins of the ingredients from our customers, and requests to avoid using agricultural products grown in the Tohoku and Kanto regions. Therefore, we have decided not to use raw materials from those regions as much as possible, because our customers are concerned about them.
　However, some ingredients that are unique or we are especially particular about can only be harvested in limited regions, so we have continued to use them without changing the production areas.
　Furthermore, because we use organic raw materials that are hard to obtain, we may sometimes use ones from the Tohoku and Kanto regions when weather conditions, etc. mean it would be impossible to procure enough if we only sourced them from the production areas that we normally use.
　For more information on the places of origins of ingredients, please visit our Origins of Ingredients page.