BBC News:
Salt sold in China is mostly iodised as part of a national policy to prevent iodine deficiency disorders. AFP is reporting a run on the product in shops, partly because shoppers believe it could help ward off the effects of potential radioactivity from Japan's reactors. "Salt sold out early this morning," an employee with a branch of French supermarket chain Carrefour in Shanghai said. All the salt was reportedly snapped up within 30 minutes of the store's opening today by anxious shoppers. Many customers reported salt prices at other shops in the city had risen as much as six-fold. In the southern city of Guangzhou, a shop staff member said: "There are many people queuing to buy iodised salt in our store. We have to control it. One client can only buy two bags of salt." Meanwhile, the Chinese government says the country faces no imminent health threat from the Japanese disaster.
