This & That, Ceci et Cela

“The corner food store should be safe, but outdoor markets are hit and miss. Sidewalk vendors and shashlik stands are better avoided. That’s the advice that food inspectors are offering after confiscating nearly 3 tons of contaminated food, including 356 kilograms of radioactive berries and mushrooms, in Moscow during the first half of this year. Of the berries, “210 kilograms of blueberries were seized within a span of 10 days alone in July,” said Vladimir Burkov, the deputy director of the city’s veterinary services, Interfax reported. Most of the radioactive produce came from Belarus and Ukraine, two countries that were heavily polluted by the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown, Burkov said. But radioactive food also was traced to the regions of Volgograd, Arkhangelsk and Tambovsk, he said. More than 100 different disease-causing toxins have been identified in the remaining 2.5 tons of food that failed to pass health quality tests, he told reporters late last month, RIA-Novosti reported.”