China: No Harmful Chemicals Found In Exported Dumplings To Japan

(BEIJING) -- No harmful chemicals were found in Chinese dumpling exports involved in a food poisoning incident in Japan, said China's quality watchdog on Thursday.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said it conducted tests on the samples of the two batches of frozen dumplings causing poisoning Japan on Thursday morning and no trace of pesticide remains were found.

Tests on the raw materials being used by the factory such as ginger and cabbage show they are also safe.

At least 10 people in Japan's Hyogo and Chiba prefectures reported stomachache, vomiting or diarrhea after eating the dumplings, according to Japanese media.

The Japanese government had examined the vomit of the poisoned people and the food packages left at their houses, finding enough methamidophos, a pesticide substance, to poison humans, said Wang Daning, head of the Bureau of Import and Export Food Safety with the AQSIQ.

However, tests by Japanese authorities on the rest of the dumplings of the same batches sold in Japan, totaling more than 2,000 packs, were safe, so were all the other types of products made by the same Chinese company, said Wang at a press conference on Thursday.

Wang said AQSIQ has demanded the producer of the dumplings, the Tian Yang Food Plant in north China's Hebei Province, recall all products in and on the way to Japan immediately.

Wang said the company's products are all exported to Japan and not sold in other countries or domestically.

All dumplings and other products made by Tian Yang have already been withdrawn from the Japanese market, said Wang.

Police from Japan and China will jointly investigate into the case, and China will send experts to Japan help resolve the issue.

"The investigators of Japan and China have agreed not to release any subjective judgment before a final result comes out," said Wang, answering questions about the possibility of someone putting in poison deliberately.

The Tian Yang Food Plant has been making frozen and dried food for more than 30 years. Wang said the company has a sound quality control system, with samples kept for every batch of exports.

In 2004, the company had to recall a batch of its meat products from Japan after the discovery of excessive amounts of escherichiacoli, which can cause diarrhea. But Wang said that could have been caused by problems in storage or transportation.

The web site of the Tian Yang company showed that its total assets were more than 80 million yuan, with annual production of more than 30 million yuan in 2000 (one U.S. dollar equals 7.1853 yuan).

TOKYO — The government decided Friday to ask companies and groups involved in importing and distributing food products to ensure their safety, amid a scare over food poisoning caused by China-made frozen "gyoza" dumplings, officials said.

Meanwhile, a small hole was found in a package and tray of dumplings in the food poisoning case in Hyogo Prefecture, and a high concentration of harmful pesticide 100-400 times above quarantine standards was detected in traces in the remaining dumplings in the case in Chiba Prefecture.

In connection with the late discovery and reporting of the incidents, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry plans to revise the Food Sanitation Law to require local authorities to report even small-scale food poisoning cases to the central government, the officials said.

A panel of experts will soon review the law, the officials said, as public criticism has grown over Chiba city's decision to leave the first outbreak of the incident unreported for nearly a month.

According to a Kyodo News tally based on reports to local authorities and other sources, the number of people claiming to be ill due to dumplings and other products made by the Chinese firm in question came to 1,117 people in 39 of Japan's 47 prefectures as of 11 p.m. Friday. They include government-confirmed cases of 10 people becoming sick in Chiba and Hyogo prefectures after consuming such dumplings contaminated with harmful pesticide.

Gov't asks food importers, distributors to ensure safety as 'gyoza' poisoning cases top 1,100

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