The Chinese poisonous dumpling panic in Japan keeps spreading. According to the report by Japan media, the number of victims has exceeded thousand, and the actual number may even be even higher.
On January 30, Japanese NHK TV station reported the frozen dumplings from China Tianyang Food Processing Ltd., sickened at least ten Japanese customers and a five year old girl is still in critical condition, after that, many Japanese from various places reported to the media that they show symptoms of diarrhea, headache, etc. after eating the products from the same company.
According to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the Chinese company involved exported over 2,500 tons of processed food to Japan since January of last year to January 30 of this year. Other than dumplings, there have been frozen pork chops, vegetable and meat rolls, etc.
The questionable dumplings were proven to contain the pesticide methamidophos, a highly toxic chemical that could kill an adult weighting 50 kilogram by as little as 1.5 grams. Because the investigation showed the manufacturing dates of all the poisonous dumplings were on two days - October 1 and October 20, 2007, and one package recovered from a sickened family was found to have a pin hole on it, Japan police suspected that the problem maybe outside the manufacturing process of the frozen dumplings.
Currently, no conclusion has been made whether it is a pesticides residue problem or a deliberated contamination. The Japanese importer, JT Food Co. has already sent investigators to the Chinese manufactory. The Japanese government has also decided to conduct an independent investigation.
According to overseas Chinese media Boxun News, the Chinese manufacturer involved, Tianyang Food Processing Ltd., belongs to Hebei Provincial Food Import and Export Co, which has over 600 workers and often has payment disputes with its employees. Currently, the company has denied the possibility of contamination during its manufacturing process and transportation inside China.
According Japan's Kyodo news, China has already formed a five-man investigation group from various ministries. The group is led by Li Chunfeng, the assistant bureau head of Import and Export Food Safety and the Bureau of Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ), the group has arrived in Japan to conduct on site investigation.
Tainted Products From China
The incident is especially sensitive for China, for its global reputation of export products has been seriously damaged last year by a series of safety scandals and product recalls.
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