Residents in China and Asia have caught on to a new and false rumor: that iodized salt can help prevent exposure to radiation. Within 24 hours, people flocked to grocery stores to buy up all the salt they could find, only to find most stores were already sold out. This false rumor, that iodized salt can ward off radiation poisoning spread in response to Japan’s nuclear crisis. Officials have informed citizens that ingesting iodized tablets will not protect against radiation and consuming too much salt can lead to death. The government has reasurred its citizen that China is in no harm from Japan’s radiation but people are still fighting for a sense of reassurance via salt. Prices of salt have jumped ten-fold in some cities and eBay is selling tablets for more than $540. Once the salt ran out, people started buying soy sauce saying that just in case, soy sauce as a lot of salt as well.
Doctors say that potassium iodide pills are used to help mitigate the effects of radiation, but regular table salt does not contain enough iodine to make a difference. Government officials are hastily trying to stop these rumors before people take advantage of the price jump and spread even more rumors. Some say it is disheartening to see how much the trust in the governments information has diminished.
I luckily made a trip to Wal-Mart on Tuesday and happened to buy a container of salt since I was close to running out myself. The salt I bought will be used strictly for cooking purposes.
Awesome...
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