» Consumers are more reluctant than ever to buy products from Fukushima

2014/10/02

Consumers are more reluctant than ever to buy products from Fukushima Prefecture, even though more than three years have passed since the nuclear disaster.

The uptick in fears was seen in the government’s latest poll on consumer consciousness and radiation in food. However, some are pointing the finger at a gourmet manga series.

The fourth biannual survey covered 5,176 people between the ages of 20 and 69 living in prefectures of the Tohoku region hit hardest by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in 2011, as well as urban areas around Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.

According to the survey, 19.6 percent of the respondents said they were reluctant to purchase items produced in Fukushima Prefecture, home to the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. This marked a 4-percentage-point increase from the 15.3 percent who answered the same in the February survey, and an all-time high since the surveys began.

In the August 2013 survey, 17.9 percent of the respondents said they were cautious about purchasing food from the prefecture, while 19.4 said the same in the February 2013 poll.

<Media Report>

Consumers suddenly more wary of produce from Fukushima (Asahi Newspaper)

Tags:food, japanese government, news

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