Three Mile Island Nuclear Facility White House Statement.

The President is concerned about reports that some members of the public fear the purity of food from the area surrounding the Three Mile Island nuclear plant.

These fears are not grounded in fact. Current readings show nothing to fear from food grown, harvested, or produced in that area. Both the Food and Drug Administration and the Food Safety and Quality Service of the USDA, on the Federal side, and State health officials are making exhaustive tests on foodstuffs in that area. They have found absolutely no danger to exist.

Tests of fish taken from the Susquehanna River downstream from the nuclear plant, of fish from a hatchery, of food in processing plants, of meat and poultry in packing houses, and of solid food taken from grocery store shelves in the immediate area have all been negative. No radioactivity above the ever-present background levels has been found in these foods—even within 3 miles of the nuclear plant.

USDA officials briefly closed six small packing plants near Three Mile Island on Friday until they had the results of their tests. That was out of an abundance of caution. When the tests came in negative, the plants were reopened on Monday.

Measurements of milk found—as has been fully reported—a barely discernible level of radiation that is only one quarter of 1 percent of what could be considered a potential health hazard. That tiny measurement in milk alone was much lower than the level of radioactivity found elsewhere in the United States following a Chinese nuclear test. And that milk was safe to drink.

As far as it is humanly possible to determine, the food from the Three Mile Island area is as safe to produce, buy, transport, prepare, and eat as the food available at any other place in the United States.