Fewer people in Japan are shunning food products from Fukushima Prefecture over concerns they might contain radioactive substances stemming from the 2011 nuclear disaster, an online survey showed March 6.
The number of respondents who said they were apprehensive about buying produce grown in the prefecture fell to 12.5 percent, the lowest figure since the Consumer Affairs Agency began the surveys in 2013, and 6.9 percentage points lower than in the first poll.
A total of 44.8 percent replied that they did not know tests are conducted to ensure Fukushima food products do not exceed unsafe radiation levels before they are distributed, up 8.8 points from the survey in February last year.
The 12th survey by the agency, conducted in February, received 5,176 responses. It canvassed opinions of people aged 20 through 69 living in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, the prefectures hardest-hit in the Tohoku region by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, as well as residents in Tokyo and seven other prefectures with large urban areas.