According to an emergency announcement from the Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) issued on Wednesday October 15, the pesticide-loaded string beans were made by the Beihai Foodstuff Company in Yantai, Shandong Province, China, and imported by the Nichirei Co., Japan’s largest frozen food company and an affiliate of the Japan Tobacco Inc.
A Japanese woman was hospitalized after ingesting the contaminated beans on Sunday October 12, according to Japanese news source Asahi Shimbun.
The preliminary investigation report from the Japan Metropolitan Police Department states that there was no sign indicating that the poisoning of the products was deliberate, as the plastic packing bags were intact. One of Japan’s leading retailers Ito-Yokado that carries the product has removed all 50,760 bags of beans from its 331 stores and supermarkets.
As the news made the headlines of many major news outlets in Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said he has requested that the Chinese regime to provide information on what has happened.
This is not the first time that contaminated Chinese products have made their way to Japan. Las January, contaminated dumplings from China created another health scare in Japan. Food made with melamine tainted milk from China such as chocolate, frozen egg tart, and octopus ball have also been found in Japanese food markets. The poisonous string beans from China has once again caused negative impact on the food industry and raised concerns about the safety issues associated with food products imported from China.
Prime Minister Aso said in a press conference on the October 15 that he would raise the issue of food safety to China. Aso also said that there have been many incidents of poisonous food imported from China this year and that there is a fundamental problem in food regulation in China.