Ukrainian milk is clean from radiation

The Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association immediately addressed an official letter to the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection for clarification of the situation. After all, the distribution of such information in the international publication, given that the overwhelming percentage of milk in Ukraine is produced in households, can have a negative impact on Ukraine's trade and economic ties, as well as on the loosening of the situation in the domestic consumer market.

Thus, the Ukrainian Stock Breeders Association appealed by letter No. 214/06 of June 11, 2018 to the Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection Volodymyr Lapa to take appropriate measures to implement state supervision (control) in the level of radioactive contamination of milk and dairy products in all regions of Ukraine. And in case of failure to establish the facts of radioactive contamination of Ukrainian milk, to bring this information to the attention of the international partner countries.

In response to its request, the USBA received an official letter of 06.26.2018, No. 602-111-16/10124 from the Food Safety and Veterinary Medicine Department of the State Consumer Protection Service, where information on the presence of inflated norms of radioactive contamination in the milk of households in the Rivne region is refuted.

In particular, the letter informs about the following:

"The State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection did not receive official reports on the increased level of radioactive contamination of milk from Ukraine, either from importers or from the competent authorities of destination countries.

To date, the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection carries out state control over the content of strontium-90 and cesium-137 in the territory of Ukraine in order to protect the life and health of citizens.

Spectrometric studies are carried out as part of the implementation of plans for the state monitoring of remnants of veterinary drugs and contaminants in living animals and raw food products, in the sale of food products in agro-food markets, in the production control of milk processing enterprises, etc.

According to the information provided by the territorial agencies of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, in Ukraine only 102 323 spectrometric studies were conducted, including 101 178 samples of raw milk and 1145 - by milk processing enterprises (production control) under the state control.

At the same time, 197,226 samples were tested strontium-90 content and 84 469 milk samples – for cesium-137.

Now in the Rivne region, only 626 spectrometric laboratory studies of milk samples were carried out and there were no exceedances of the content of strontium-90 and cesium-137."

Thus, the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection believes that information about the level of radionuclides in milk in the Rivne region, which was highlighted in the mass media, has not been confirmed.