BEIJING / SHANGHAI - Supermarkets and Japanese restaurants in China have been distancing themselves from products imported from the nation since the earthquake-devastated country announced on Saturday that radiation levels found in spinach and milk produced near the crippled nuclear plant exceeded safe levels.

An employee at an outlet of the Japan-invested department store and supermarket Ito Yokado in Beijing's Chaoyang district said spinach on the shelves was from local suppliers and made-in-Japan milk products had never been supplied to the Chinese market.

While a made-in-Japan label had, in the past, been a declaration of quality among fashionable young consumers, many retailers have been busy removing signs proclaiming items to have been imported from Japan.