Japan rice worries a blow to collective psyche

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - News that local governments around Japan will test rice for radioactive caesium came as a blow that rocked the nation's collective psyche, threatening to make its beloved traditional staple the latest in a long list of forbidden foods.

Announcement of the testing last week came amid public fears over radiation in food in the wake of the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years at the Fukushima plant in northeastern Japan, with excessive levels of radiation found in beef, vegetables, tea, milk, seafood and water.