Japanese schoolchildren fed toxic dolphin meat
‘Councillors from the home of the Japan’s whaling industry have revealed that schoolchildren in the area have been served dolphin meat containing dangerous levels of mercury, prompting warnings of a potential public health disaster as the country attempts to boost consumption of cetacean meat.
In a rare departure from the official line that the meat is safe and nutritious, two assembly members from Taiji in Wakayama prefecture broke ranks to say that tests on samples of short-finned pilot whales – a type of large dolphin, despite its name – had found mercury levels 10 to 16 times higher than those advised by the health ministry.
“In kindergartens, elementary schools and middle schools, children are served the meat two or three times a month, but their parents believe that it comes from whales caught in the Antarctic. They seem to be unaware that their children are eating these pilot whales,” said Hisato Ryono, who described the meat as “toxic waste”.’
