A salt panic hit the Chinese supermarket shelves since Thursday.

China's major salt supplier, the China National Salt Industry Corp. (CNSIC), affirmed on Thursday that there are rich salt reserves to meet people's demand and there is no need to hoard salt.

A salt panic hit the Chinese supermarket shelves since Thursday as a rumor claimed that Japan's nuclear crisis would lead to sea water pollution and the salt produced with such water will be harmful. Rumor also said that salt with iodine can help protect people from the effects of nuclear radiation.

Japan's nuclear crisis seemed to be gradually out of control on Wednesday after a helicopter failed to drop water on the most troubled reactor and radiation level began to surge.

However, according to a statement issued by the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center, currents in the Pacific Ocean out from Fukushima were flowing west to east, while China is located to the west of Japan. It is impossible for radioactive substances to reach China's sea areas via the ocean current.

The statement also noted that China has huge salt reserves and over 80 percent of the salt comes from inland areas. The public need not panic and hoard salt.

Experts said that the iodine content in salt is much less than that in the iodine tablets, it would do little to protect against radiation. They also warned that taking excessive amounts of iodine was harmful to health.

Air monitoring results by 11 a.m. Thursday showed the air in the country remained normal.