It's baaaaack. School-lunch whale

[Taro Toporific]

Whale meat back on the menu in Japanese schools
ABC Online, Australia -30 Nov
Japan will resume serving whale meat to schoolchildren after a gap of 20 years, an official says. Elementary and junior high school....more...

[jingai]

So stupid. Why not just feed them raw mercury and PCBs instead of contaminated whale meat? Mmm brain damage.

"Also, the plan was realised as prices of whale meat declined thanks to an increase in the quantity of catches in recent years,"

Ahem.

[jingai]

The developing brain is particularly vulnerable to methylmercury, and brain damage incurred during development is likely to be permanent.

However, Gary Myers, a pediatric neurologist who studies mercury exposure at the University of Rochester in New York, says that the Faroese are unusual in their diet of whale meat, which is especially high in concentrations of mercury and other toxicants. Therefore, he says, this study cannot be generalized to the United States and other countries with populations that do not consume whale meat.

From the US NIH:
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2004/112-15/forum.html?section=children#meth

[Taro Toporific]

[floatl][/floatl]

Japanese students served toxic whale meat
The Daily Telegraph - August 01, 2007 08:29pm - from Reuters correspondents in Tokyo
WHALE meat served in school lunches in an area of rural Japan is contaminated with alarming levels of mercury, a local assemblyman said today, calling for a halt in plans for the meat to be shipped to schools nationwide.
Hisato Ryono, a assemblyman in Taiji, a historic whaling town some 450km west of Tokyo, said two samples of short-finned pilot whale had mercury levels 10 to 16 times more than advised by the Health Ministry...more...

[Mulboyne]

ENS: Councilmen From Japanese Whaling Town Break Code of Silence

Two town council members from the whaling town of Taiji have come out publicly against the feeding of dolphin meat contaminated with mercury to children in Japan's school lunch programs. It is the first time that Japanese elected officials have broken the unwritten rule against criticizing whaling and the consumption of whale meat that prevails across the country. Independents Junichiro Yamashita and Hisato Ryono will be holding a news conference on Monday to announce laboratory test results of samples taken from dolphin meat purchased at local supermarkets. The meat was found to contain over 10 times the government's limit for both mercury and methyl mercury. Yamashita said, "We're not against traditional whaling, but we heard claims that pilot whales are poisoned with mercury, and we discovered that some of this meat from the drive fisheries was fed to kids in school lunches." The assemblymen described the dolphin meat as "toxic waste" and are attempting to persuade other elected officials in Taiji and surrounding towns to take it off school lunch menus...more...

[Catoneinutica]

That "whale" meat is chock-full of mercury, dioxin, et al., has been known for decades. I can't imagine why school districts haven't been sued en masse for inflicting such toxic waste on kids.

-catone
-"chicken nuggets" and french fries washed down with a Sprite from the cafeteria vending machine? Now THAT's good eatin'!

[hundefar]

I found a video of a guy sucking a dolphin penis the other day. Was I excited? Yes.

[Iraira]

I found a video of a guy sucking a dolphin penis the other day. Was I excited? Yes.

I was drunk, okay.

[Iraira]

That "whale" meat is chock-full of mercury, dioxin, et al., has been known for decades. I can't imagine why school districts haven't been sued en masse for inflicting such toxic waste on kids.

Without stopping to hug a tree on this, I'm not amazed that the politicians let this fly through, despite the proof that whale meat really isn't safe for human consumption. The J-whaling lobby has been pouring money into everyone's pockets, so it makes sense that the knuckleheads sanctioned this. They'll probably be retired and out of "harm to the reputation"s way", when scores of parents with their "why can't little Akira blink" kids show up at some court house demanding justice. If the J-folks want to poison their own kids, hell, let 'em.