Made-in-Japan label loses luster in China

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Supermarkets and Japanese restaurants in China have been distancing themselves from products imported from Japan since the earthquake-devastated country announced on Saturday that radiation levels found in spinach and milk produced near the crippled nuclear plant exceeded safe levels, China Daily reported.

A woman purchases vegetables in a supermarket in Tokyo on March 20. Earthquake-devastated Japan announced on Saturday that radiation levels found in spinach and milk produced near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant exceeded safe levels. [CFP]

An employee at an outlet of the Japan-invested department store and supermarket Ito Yokado in Beijing's Chaoyang district said spinach on the shelves was from local suppliers and made-in-Japan milk products had never been supplied to the Chinese market.

While a made-in-Japan label had, in the past, been a declaration of quality among fashionable young consumers, many retailers have been busy removing signs proclaiming items to have been imported from Japan.

The manager of a Japanese restaurant in Beijing's Chaoyang district was quoted by Monday's China Daily as saying that he had reassured diners that the restaurant used salmon imported from Norway and did not import food or ingredients from Japan.

And an employee from a Japanese restaurant in Guangzhou's Tianhe district, said the sale of sushi, salmon and other Japanese dishes had not been affected during the past week because all food and ingredients were local.

"We use Japanese cooking skills and hire Japanese chefs but we will use food products from China or those imported from other countries if Japanese food products are found tainted by nuclear radiation," she said.

The fact that Chinese ingredients were being used by many restaurants angered some consumers who felt they had been cheated in the past.

Jin Chen, a 26-year-old white-collar worker in Shanghai, said she was disappointed when she learned that seafood served at her favorite Japanese restaurant in Shanghai actually came from Dalian, Liaoning province or Norway.

"All the advertising in the past about serving authentic Japanese food was a lie," she said. "Now, I'm worried about food safety and also I feel cheated."

Tightened checks at borders have also been affecting some imports from Japan.

Ye Yuanyong, a staff member at a Japanese supermarket within GJ Japan Plaza in downtown Shanghai, said the supermarket's stocks of fresh fish, shrimp and crab had fallen because of tightened border inspections.

According to the Shanghai agriculture commission, the city does not import milk or spinach from Japan because of the high labor costs it would entail and the short shelf life of the products.

But fans of made-in-Japan products were still clamoring for their favorites.

Jiang Aifang, 48, who lived in Tokyo for more than 10 years before returning to Shanghai last week because of the earthquake, said she has faith in things that are made in Japan.

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection said on Sunday morning that radiation levels monitored in 42 major cities and near the country's nuclear power plants remained normal.

Yu Zhuoping, former head of the Chinese delegation to the IAEA, told reporters on Saturday that the impact on China in the long term remained to be seen.

"Fukushima is a very long way from China. Even if a south or southeast wind blew radioactive material toward China, it would be highly diluted and would no longer be a threat to us," Yu said.

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