Over 70 cases of food poisioning from Chinese-made dumplings discovered

More than 60 new victims of food poisoning from frozen Chinese-made “gyoza” dumplings have been discovered in 18 different prefectures after the first 10 victims were discovered in Chiba and Hyogo Prefecture on Wednesday. The Japanese government is now urging China to cooperate in investigating the issue, Japanese media reports.

The dumplings, manufactured by Tianyang Food in China’s Heibei Province and imported and sold by JT Foods Co, were found to contain traces of an organophosphate called methamidophos. The substance is a common pesticide in China, but rarely used in Japan,

Commercial products containing methamidophos must bear the word “Danger-Poison” in the United States.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded Thursday that quality inspectors had carried out tests on two batches of dumplings at Tianyang Food’s factory, but that no traces of any harmful chemicals had been detected.

Japan’s health ministry announced the names of 19 firms which have imported products other than dumplings from Tianyang Food as well as the names of the products, and urges these firms through local governments to stop selling them, according to a Kyodo News report. An increasing number of firms including Maruha and Nippon Meat Packers are already voluntarily withdrawing products.

“This is a life-threatening matter. The government must make utmost efforts to prevent further damage,” Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said at the House of Councillors Budget Committee.

There have been reports of restaurants and schools beginning to take all Chinese-made food off their menus, regardless of the maker.

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura will take up the issue in talks with visiting Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei later in the afternoon and urge Beijing to take proper measures to prevent a recurrence, according to Kyodo News.

“I don’t want to think that there is any difference among countries concerning food safety, but it seems there was a sense on the Chinese side that ‘this is probably ok’,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference.

The scandal is only on of several recent concerns over the questionable safety of Chinese products. To make things worse, China declared earlier in January that its campaign to ensure food and product safety had been a complete success, according to a Reuters report.

None of the 62 newly discovered victims were hospitalized and their symptoms were reportedly not serious, according to the Mainichi Shimbun.