(Image source: Bloomberg)

BY ERICA COGHILL

After the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown in March, panic spread when reports came out of excessive radiation being found in some foods.   

And now, Meiji, one of the largest food manufacturers in Japan, is launching a recall of food made for a more vulnerable consumer -- baby formula.

Tampa’s WFTS has the scoop...

“The manufacturer is now recalling the canned powdered milk as a precaution, but the company says the levels of radioactive caesium in it were so low that they would not be a health concern.  Experts, of course, say children are more at risk of getting cancer and other illnesses than adults from radiation exposure.”

Cesium is an invisible, tasteless and odorless element that greatly increases risk of cancer. Meiji found cesium levels of up to 31 becquerels per kilogram in the baby formula.

ABC News puts those levels into perspective...

“While it is below the government-set allowable limit of 200 becquerels per kilogram, there are concerns that babies are more susceptible to the harmful effects of radiation.”

Meiji speculates the contamination came from the Fukushima-Daiichi plant meltdown while Meiji’s milk was airing out between March 14th and 20th. This is the latest in a series of reported problems from the plant as workers try to cool the plant’s reactors by flooding them with water.

The New York Times reported Sunday:

“At least 45 tons of highly radioactive water have leaked from a purification facility at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, and some of it may have reached the Pacific Ocean, the plant’s operator said ... Nearly nine months after Fukushima Daiichi was ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami, the plant continues to pose a major environmental threat.”

As much as 220 tons of water may have leaked from the facility, and the company that is working to control the reactors said the water may have contained one million times as much radioactive strontium as the maximum safe level.