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　　据《今日日本》3月20日报道，自从在福岛县周围的菠菜和牛奶中发现核辐射污染后，食品安全就成为日本民众最关心的问题之一。从住宅区附近的小商店到东京最大的筑地鱼市，购物者们都在细查产品产地，尽量避免挑选受核污染地区的产品。

　　在东京的超市中，机警的购物者们都将茨城县的菠菜排除在购物清单之外。日本东北部的茨城县距离发生核事故的福岛核电站120公里，这里的菠菜中已经被辐射污染。75岁的购物者佐滕说：“我不会购买来自福岛及其周围地区的蔬菜。”

　　日本政府表示，菠菜和牛奶中发现的核辐射计量很小，不会威胁民众健康。但很多农民和商人担心，公众焦虑可能伤害到那些没有受到核污染的产品。来自福岛核电站附近地区的农民石井说，有很多可怕的谣言，他很担心当地农产品的未来。

　　东京的商店没有因为自然灾难出现抢购潮，由于民众对核污染的恐惧，周末的筑地鱼市显得很冷清，平常那里到处都是游客和购物者。72岁的商人塞滕说，这种影响将是长期性的，也许要长达十年，因为人们可能不再敢吃鱼。附近的餐馆和寿司店也表示，他们流失了大量顾客。

　　Radiation discovery fans food fears in Japan

　　TOKYO —

　　At a bustling Tokyo supermarket Sunday, wary shoppers avoided one particular bin of spinach。

　　The produce came from Ibaraki prefecture in the northeast, where radiation was found in spinach produced up to 120 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Another bin of spinach—labeled as being from Chiba Prefecture—was sold out。

　　“It’s a little hard to say this, but I won’t buy vegetables from Fukushima and that area,” said shopper Yukihiro Sato, 75.

　　From corner stores to Tokyo’s vast Tsukiji fish market, Japanese shoppers picked groceries with care Sunday after the discovery of contamination in spinach and milk fanned fears about the safety of this crowded country’s food supply。

　　The anxiety added to the spreading impact of the unfolding nuclear crisis triggered when the March 11 tsunami battered the Fukushima complex, wrecking its cooling system and leading to the release of radioactive material。

　　There were no signs Sunday of the panic buying that stripped Tokyo supermarkets of food last week. Instead, shoppers scrutinized the source of items and tried to avoid what they worried might be tainted。

　　Mayumi Mizutani was shopping for bottled water, saying she was worried about the health of her visiting 2-year-old grandchild after a tiny amount of radioactive iodine was found in Tokyo’s tap water. She expressed fears that the toddler could possibly get cancer。

　　The government said the level of radiation detected on spinach and milk was minuscule and should be no threat to health。

　　The tainted milk was found 30 kilometers from the plant, a local official said. The spinach was collected from six farms between 100 kilometers and 120 kilometers to the south of the reactors。

　　Farmers and merchants expressed fears of their own that public anxiety might hurt even producers of goods that were free of contamination。

　　“There will probably be damaging rumors,” said farmer Shizuko Kohata, 60, who was evacuated from the town of Futaba, near the Fukushima complex, to a sports arena in Saitama, north of Tokyo。

　　“I grow things and I’m worried about whether I can make it in the future,” Kohata said Saturday。

　　On Sunday, an official of Taiwan’s Atomic Energy Council said radiation was detected on fava beans imported from Japan, although in an amount that was too low to harm human health. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to deal with the press。

　　Japan’s food exports are worth about $3.3 billion a year—less than 0.5% of its total exports—and seafood makes up 45 percent of that, according to government data。

　　In Tokyo, others said they weren’t concerned and put the crisis in perspective with other calamities。

　　“I experienced the war, so if there is enough food for a day or two, I feel we can get by,” said Nagako Mizuno, 73, originally from Iwaki, a city in the quake zone, but has lived in Tokyo for 40 years。

　　“You can’t go on living if you worry about it,” she said. “It’s all the same if everybody ends up dying. I’m not concerned。”

　　Fears of radioactive contamination hurt sales at the Tsukiji market, a vast maze of aisles where merchants at hundreds of stalls sell tuna, octopus and other fish fresh off the boat. The market was unusually quiet over the weekend, a time when it is normally packed with shoppers and tourists。

　　Traders have been hit hard by power cuts and an exodus of foreigners, and they worry about long-term damage from public fears over possible contamination of fish stocks。

　　“The impact would last long, like a decade, because people would not eat fish,” said merchant Mamoru Saito, 72.

　　The market had plenty of fresh fish despite the destruction of much of Japan’s northeastern fishing fleet in the tsunami. Whole fish and shellfish were laid out on wooden tables washed by a flow of cold water. Fishmongers sawed slabs of frozen tuna into steaks。

　　At a restaurant adjacent to the market, sushi chef Hideo Ishigami said the nuclear scare and transportation disruptions due to power cuts have cost him business。

　　“I have a massive drop in the number of customers,” said Ishigami, 72.

　　(今日日本)

　　(沈姝华)