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An Aichi Prefecture waste disposal company accused of selling beef cutlets that were supposed to be thrown away may also have been illegally selling expired food from convenience stores and other retailers, police said.
The scandal surfaced last week when popular curry chain CoCo Inchibanya Co revealed that Daiko, a disposal company it had contracted with to dispose packages of frozen beef cutlets that may have included plastic pieces, was selling the frozen food instead of disposing it, Fuji TV reported.
A large amount of the frozen cutlets are presumed to have been sold to Munoru Fuzu, a food distributor based in Hashima, Gifu Prefecture, for the purposes of resale. It is believed that the majority of the food was sold to supermarkets and other stores.
The scandal prompted police in both Aichi and Gifu prefectures to launch an investigation into Daiko for possible violations of Japan’s food sanitary and waste disposal laws.
According to police, apart from the beef cutlets, investigators found 108 additional food products at Minori Fuzu’s headquarters, including fried chicken from convenience store chain Lawson, sausages from major retailer Aeon, chicken from Family Mart and pork meat products from Seven & i Holdings Co., the operator of convenience store chain Seven-Eleven.
The majority of these products were far past their best-before expiration date, police said. Police believe that these foods were also resold by Daiko, instead of being disposed of, and are currently investigating the case in cooperation with all involved companies.
© Japan Today
20 Comments
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wtfjapan
and Japanese keep harping on about "quality safety food Japan" when ive lost count how many food scandals and livestock outbreaks theyve had in the last 10+ years.
lostrune2
Like the McDonald's meat scandal
nath
This being the millionth time I've seen a food related scandal in this country the only conclusion I can draw is that people just don't care. Seriously, companies that have found to be selling spoiled, mislabeled, and even poisonous food have only received slaps on the wrist and are still operating after admitting to committing these crimes.
No wonder Japan has one of the highest rates of stomach cancer in the world.
Rendy Yang
I thought this only happen in 3rd world country like mine... I hope Japan can retains it's image, i really like CoCo Curry
My_Opinion
It's all about the Benjamins! Well in this case Yen! No honor anymore Nobody care who they hurt as long as they make their money. Sad thing is that it will not change cause nobody in power cares enough to hold the guilty accountable. Only if people boycott these companies would anything possibly change, but doubt it would ever happen.
some14some
Selling "namagomi?" It's shocking..
FizzBit
I wonder if CoCo had just found out about this? Was it a whistleblower at either CoCo or Daiko, or were they worried about someone getting injured, or were they worried about the "MacDonald's effect"?
Does Japan lack the investigative journalist type that would expose this? Is it just this company, or is it common practice? Anyway, I realized a long time ago that Japan Inc has the average population by the balls.
Yubaru
Gotta agree with you here, I wonder how many people on the receiving end thought it was weird that their garbage man was also their meat delivery guy too!
Rann Levy
We can't expect anything different when Our human connections are based upon self profit. To what extent and how can I benifit myself on the expenses of others. It is the connections between us that we need to work on in order for these kind of stories to never be repeated again. Changing the society values from taking to giving.
Utrack
The beef cutlets were tainted with plastic bits in it.. This story should be in the crime section of JT.
Disillusioned
Yet another food mislabeling scam! It seems that this company has been at it for quite a while and with a wide variety of produce. It makes me wonder just how common this practice is throughout the food waste disposal industry. I also have no doubt the receiving companies were in on it too.
warispeace
The bigger crime is that so much food is wasted in Japan in the first place, especially since Japan is one of the world's biggest importers and many people in the source countries have too little to eat.
Frederic Bastiat
But, how many people have actually been affected , as in become ill from the food? Any numbers?
since1981
Why isn't it in the crime section? Is it not a crime to sell food that was thrown in the garbage?
karlrb
I'm sorry to see this corruption. I wonder if the typical Japanese person cares that their country's image is going downhill.
Alistair Carnell
Whoever came up with this scam, and put it into action, should be forced to eat the crap they were trying to foist upon the public..... All of it !
GW
SenseNSC,
If anything China learned from Japan which has been highly corrupt for a very very long time, price fixing, bid rigging, KB etc etc etc have been common place for many many decades & still very popular ways to fleece the nation & its people!!
Tony Alderman
Business as usual then.
smithinjapan
Anyway, yet ANOTHER food scandal in Japan, as well as another scandal in general. And yet again NOTHING will be done about it, either. The absolute WORST that will happen is that Daiko will change it's name and go on selling garbage, and people here will say, "umai!"
daito_hak
This country is just full of scandals involving Japan Inc.
This adds up to the road-paving firms raided over suspected bid-rigging for Tohoku repairs, and the recent scandal involving vaccines and blood products.
What a nice country...