The trans-Tasman Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is investigating a possible risk that products imported from Japan could be contaminated with radiation.
FSANZ said the probe would assess a narrow band of imported products such as seaweed, wasabi and soy sauce following Japan's 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami and nuclear fallout.
FSANZ was conducting an investigation on the possible risk of radiation-contaminated food entering Australia and New Zealand from Japan.
New Zealand would follow recommendations made by FSANZ and at this stage would not conduct a separate investigation, a Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry spokesman told NZPA.
There were reports radiation levels at the site of one of the damaged nuclear plants had reached 400 millisieverts per hour, or the equivalent to a person undergoing 4000 x-rays.
A sublethal dose is less than 2500 millisieverts, though this can still cause drowsiness, weight loss, fever, abdominal pain and blisters.
About 6500 millisieverts is potentially lethal -- resulting in severe radiation sickness and increasing lifetime risk of cancer -- while sustained exposure to more than 10,000 milliesieverts can result in death within hours.
