Japan's top government spokesman says radiation levels in spinach and milk exceed safety limits following nuclear accidents at a tsunami-stricken nuclear plant.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said checks of milk from Fukushima prefecture, where the plant is located, and of spinach grown in Ibaraki, a neighboring prefecture, surpassed limits set by the government.

According to AP, it was the government's first report of food being contaminated by radiation since the March 11 quake and tsunami unleashed the nuclear crisis.