( CNN ) -- Japan 's government has lifted restrictions on vegetables and milk from some parts of the country 's north after inspections found radiation levels below legal limits for three straight weeks , a top government official announced Friday . The move lifts a ban on spinach and kakina , another leafy green vegetable , from Gunma Prefecture , southwest of the quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant . Milk from the Aizu area of Fukushima Prefecture , inland from the plant , will also be allowed for sale , Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters . `` The level of radiation has stayed low for last three samplings , '' said Edano , the government 's point man for the nuclear crisis . The government has slapped bans on a variety of farm products products grown or produced around the plant , which has spewed radioactive particles into the sky and water since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that knocked out its coolant systems . Workers are still battling to keep three damaged reactors at the plant from overheating four weeks later . Radiation levels have been trending downward in the area around the plant since mid-March , according to data released by government ministries . And farmers have been pushing Japanese authorities to lower standards on radiation in food , calling them excessively stringent and not necessary to protect consumers . Edano said Monday that the government 's legal standards would not be changed , but food would be allowed for sale if it passed three weekly tests .
A ban on spinach and beans from Gunma Prefecture has been lifted . Milk from parts of Okinawa Prefecture can be sold as well .