Panic swept through the Japanese when their nuclear plant was damaged during the earthquake and tsunami. Now the nuclear crisis is also causing concerns in China.

Since March 16, supermarkets in parts of China have seen waves of consumers buying salt and they have run out of salt in just a matter of days.

Why we Chinese rushed to buy salt? There were mainly two reasons. One was that nuclear radiation leaked in Japan might have polluted the sea water, thus the safety of salt could be in question. The other was that consuming enough iodized salt would protect against radiation.

However, according to an expert in the industry, most of China’s salt is made from mineral salt instead of sea salt. And he said, even China’s sea salt would not be polluted because of the long distance between China and Japan. Later, the Ministry of Health refuted the rumor that eating more iodine-rich salt could offset damage from radiation. Health experts told people that regular table salt doesn’t contain enough iodine to block the poisoning.

Considering the buying panic, different people had different views. Some blamed it on people’s ignorance, while others laughed at people who were easy to foment. But I hold my own opinion. What can they do if there is no salt at home and no salt in the supermarkets? They bought salt just for a living. It was the government that should have kept the rumors from spreading and popularize the knowledge of radiation.