There may be a vague feeling of anxiety that is not based on scientific grounds.

Is anyone else getting tired of this balderdash (for lack of a better word)? If there were "scientific data" (not funded by or excerpted or extracted by the same old tired names) that actually PROVES there's nothing to worry about, then other countries wouldn't have an issue with food safety. Problem solved. Be careful about the words "scientific grounds".

So......There can only be three possibilities:

1) Japanese food is unsafe due to radionuclides (in which case other countries wouldn't/shouldn't buy them; and Japan has the serious and adult job of finding a way to either invent technology to remove radionuclides from food, or else stop trying to flog toxic waste on other countries.)

2) Japanese food is safe in terms of radionuclides (in which case Japan needs to be open in providing the data, based on scientific method--ideally researched by neutral third parties with no vested interest in any part of politics here--and using "non-nuclear-emergency" standards, rather than the several times elevated "acceptable limits" adopted by a nation facing [double and possibly triple] nuclear meltdown). For a country without three destroyed reactors, the adjusted limits are simply not acceptable, and not only do those countries not have any obligation to buy the stuff, they actually have an obligation to keep their population safe by not buying the stuff. So if the food is safe, make the case and get on with it.

3) Japanese food might be safe, or might not be safe in terms of radionuclides. No one knows and few people care because to look into this would possibly isolate the food producers in contaminated prefecture(s) and create a region-based area of 'disharmony' and perceived 'unfairness', which would obviously affect favorability and voting tendencies in similar regions across the nation. In this case, IMHO, it would be completely unrelated to overseas countries, and not very moral to inflict on others, in which case official comments would ring all the more hollow.

I'm hoping option 2 is the reality, but I suspect/fear that option 3 might actually be the case. But whatever the case, Japan faces the daunting task of dealing with this. "Dealing with" suggests proactive planning and action. My heart goes out to all the people in the affected regions who cannot make a living like before due to this very very tragic accident. Let's find the right way.

Within Japan, the recent 'mislabeling' fraud by hotels and restaurants have markedly reduced the trust in the quality and identity of Japanese foods. Disguising the origin of goods and fish from Fukushima by food distributors has not helped the cause of 'safe food' either.

Not so vague for me. As mentioned, the scandals of mislabeling have been in the front of my mind.

Within Japan, the recent 'mislabeling' fraud by hotels and restaurants have markedly reduced the trust in the quality and identity of Japanese foods.

I honestly think that many people already knew that there was a lot of mislabeling going on, they just didn't think it was a safety issue. For example, a student of mine had a summer job in the '80s in a frozen foods factory in Osaka. Her job was to remove frozen vegetables imported from China, and replace them in bags that stated "product of Japan." There has always been a lot of this stuff going on. Don't believe the label "Made in Japan!" And if you buy souvenirs within Japan, definitely don't believe the label "product of (whatever) prefecture."

And why the hell should anybody take his word for it. His name is not even shown which means he is not prepared to take any kind of responsibility.

Japanese universities from Okinawa to Hokkaido have found abnormalities in animals living in Fukushima. Obviously,the environment in Japan is contaminated. Concealing food origin,lack of testing do not allow Japanese food consumers to safeguard their health adequately-the result of this deception will be tragic.....