By IANS,
New Delhi : Japanese sushi may be hard to find in eateries across capital following the government’s decision to ban import of food from the earthquake and tsunami-affected island nation that is battling a radiation leak from a nuclear reactor.
The seas around the nation, which has thriving fishing ports, have been contaminated by radiation, threatening marine life.
A food ministry official said “since radiation was spreading horizontally across Japan”, it could contaminate all kinds of food imported from the country. The ban has placed India in a league of nations that include Britan, China, Singapore and Hong Kong.
However, restaurant owners in the national capital and Mumbai said the ban would not take sushi off the menu because not all the varieties of fish used to prepare sushi are imported from Japan. Several of them are imported from Europe, north America and other countries in Southeast Asia.
A spokesperson for The Sukura, a Japanese restaurant in the capital, said: “The handful of Japanese eateries may have to think of alternative imports if the situation worsens.”
Restaurateurs said the government should be pragmatic about the import of food from Japan and “instead of banning imports, should check the consignments for radiation”.
Varun Tuli, managing director of the Yum Yum Tree, said: “Seafood needs to be fresh and a lot of it can be procured from other countries.” The restaurant uses Scottish salmon, Canadian scallops, Alaskan king crabs and Sri Lankan tuna.
The capital’s sushi restaurants are divided into two groups – one caters to the Japanese and south eastern expatriates and the other to the local and non-Asian population. The former sources its ingredients from Japan and the latter from all over the globe.
A report says several high-end eateries and food exporters import the sushi-grade Hamachi fish, Japanese variety, from Singapore.