Taking advantage of the scorching hot season of summer in Japan, green tea companies are making hard efforts to increase consumption of their products with “cold-brewed green tea.” When the green tea is poured with cold water, not with hot water, it has been found, the cold green tea increases a percentage of functional constituents which are to boost people’s immune system. In addition to such information, a fashionable glass-container like a wine bottle has been manufactured to facilitate an increase in cold tea consumption. This fancy bottle is a kind of green tea brewers with a strainer installed at its mouth. Although cold green tea has been one of … Continue reading →

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) made an announcement on July 12 that the Government of the United States of America dropped a barrier to imports of Unshu mikan (orange), also known as “satsuma orange,” produced at four prefectures such as Kumamoto and Nagasaki in Kyushu Island. It has been banned for Japan to export to the United States Unshu oranges produced in the Kyushu region, due to outbreaks of Japanese orange fly, a kind of citrus pest infesting the fruits, at the orchards in the region. The two governments of Japan and the United States reached an agreement on July 11 that the United States removes an embargo … Continue reading →

The Chinese government is struggling to improve the quality of agricultural products amid a number of scandals involving pesticide residues exceeding the maximum limit found in food items. In an effort to provide safe farm products, the government has been designating organic food production areas nationwide to promote cultivation of what they call “Green Food,” products made with less or no use of agricultural chemicals. In China, it is common for consumers to immerse vegetables in water for a couple of hours after they purchase them. Some people even put vegetables in salt water for tens of minutes in order to reduce the health risk of pesticide residues as much … Continue reading →