Pt. 2: What MAHA Missed: ALARA at the Center of the Fight for Food Safety
Important Update: Food Safety, Radioactive Cesium, and the Fight to Protect the Public.
Dear FFAN Supporter,
This is the planned Part 2 to the update you received last Friday, We Need a Federal Food Administration! Thank you for standing with the Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network (FFAN) and supporting our petition aligned with the FDA Citizen Petition concerning radioactive contamination of food, particularly cesium-137. As stated in Friday's update, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement has ignored the growing threat of radioactive pollution in our food supply. A new agency, a proposed Federal Food Administration (FFA) should focus like a laser on the issue, not try to sweep it under the rug.
Your involvement remains crucial, and recent developments make the need for stronger public protections more urgent than ever. There is good news to share, however.
Eleven Attorneys General challenged the NRC's proposed weakening of radiation protections:
In September 2026, California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined ten other state Attorneys General in opposing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's proposed changes to its regulatory framework, including changes that threaten the long-standing ALARA principle — As Low As Reasonably Achievable.
The coalition represents eleven states:
California — Rob Bonta
Colorado — Phil Weiser
Delaware — Kathy Jennings
Illinois — Kwame Raoul
Massachusetts — Andrea Campbell
Maryland — Anthony Brown
Minnesota — Keith Ellison
New Mexico — Raúl Torrez
Oregon — Dan Rayfield
Vermont — Charity Clark
Washington — Nick Brown
The opposition of these Attorneys General is an important development in the effort to maintain established radiation protections. Their concerns deserve public attention and our thanks, and we urgently hope that state and federal officials will continue to recognize the importance of ALARA in protecting workers, communities, and the food supply.
Why ALARA must be maintained and improved:
A November 1 article by Thomas Bishop in Beyond Nuclear International, titled "From Maximum Permissible Dose to As Low As Reasonably Achievable," provides an important historical perspective on why ALARA became a cornerstone of radiation protection.
Historically, regulators learned that simply staying below a maximum permissible dose did NOT mean workers or the public were adequately protected. ALARA evolved from there, requiring nuclear operators to continually seek ways to reduce exposure rather than treating compliance with a numerical limit as sufficient.
Importantly, ALARA has demonstrated its value. Worker radiation exposures have declined even though the maximum permissible dose itself has not changed. This is precisely why ALARA should be strengthened, not eliminated. The National Academies' BEIR VII Phase 2 report supports the linear no-threshold model, recognizing that no threshold has been established below which exposure to ionizing radiation can be assumed to be entirely without risk. We should be continually improving protections and reducing unnecessary exposure wherever reasonably achievable.
Why this matters to food safety:
Radioactive contamination does not remain confined to nuclear facilities. Radioactive materials can move through air, water, and soil, enter agricultural and marine food chains, and ultimately reach consumers.
As I mentioned in Friday’s update, the cesium-137 contamination identified in imported Indonesian shrimp and spices in 2025 and 2026 brought this issue into the public spotlight. It also raised important questions about the adequacy of FDA surveillance, food testing, import controls, and the government's ability to identify and respond to radioactive contamination in the food supply. There is much to learn from the recalls.
FFAN's FDA Citizen Petition, originally submitted in 2013, remains an important part of this effort. It calls attention to the need for meaningful oversight of radioactive contamination in food and the protection of consumers, particularly women and children, and spells out in good, clear language how FDA (or a new FAA, Federal Food Administration) should respond to the petition.
The weakening of radiation protections at the source could have consequences well beyond the fence lines at nuclear facilities. Once radioactive materials enter the environment, they threaten our food and health. Prevention, environmental monitoring, and meaningful food surveillance must work together.
What comes next? FFAN continues to advocate for:
*A meaningful response to the outstanding FDA Citizen Petition concerning cesium-137.
Stronger food testing, surveillance, and transparency regarding radioactive contamination.
*Recognition of ingestion as an important pathway of radiation exposure.
*Recognition of bioaccumulation and accumulation over time: Radiation protection and food-safety assessments must recognize that certain radionuclides bioaccumulate and concentrate in living organisms. Because some radionuclides chemically mimic essential biological elements, they can be absorbed and retained in tissues rather than readily metabolized and excreted. Strontium-90, which behaves like calcium, can become incorporated into bones and teeth. Cesium-137 and cesium-134, which behave like potassium, can distribute throughout soft tissues and muscle. These processes can contribute to ongoing internal exposure through contaminated food. Assessments must therefore consider not only initial contamination levels but also environmental transfer, biological accumulation, persistence in organisms, and repeated dietary exposure.
*Maintenance and strengthening of ALARA and other established radiation protections.
*Establish a Federal Food Administration as proposed by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and Senator Dick Durbin, with the scientific expertise and authority to address radioactive contamination in food. There are currently 11 co sponsors. In 2024 I wrote about the need for a Federal Food Adminstration in Food Safety News.
Recent NRC developments reinforce why food safety cannot be separated from environmental radiation protection. Weakening protections at one agency can have consequences that extend well beyond its regulatory jurisdiction.
We are grateful to everyone who signed our petition which is helping to bring attention to an issue that has received far too little public scrutiny. Public awareness and taking action are essential to ensuring that radioactive contamination in food receives the urgent attention it deserves.
FFAN was honored to host another info table at a legendary Bonnie Raitt show, most recently in San Francisco. What a thrill to see Bonnie and her band perform on the hallowed Bill Graham Civic Auditorium stage! She is a phenomenal musician who also helps support FFAN's crucial work. FFAN also needs your support to help amplify our message as a project of the National Institute for Science, Law and Public Policy. Please click HERE.
Thank you for standing with us.
Sincerely,
Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network (FFAN)
A project of the National Institute for Science, Law and Public Policy