Highly contaminated frozen food products have caused
hundreds, and growing, of cases of severe food poisoning after consumers ingest a
toxic pesticide.
‘Shoppers (in Japan) have reported vomiting, diarrhoea and
other symptoms of food poisoning after eating food produced at a plant in
Gunma, north of Tokyo, according to surveys carried out by the Asahi Shimbun
and other local media.’ read the full News24 story.
Following yesterday’s story, police have begun
investigations.
According to Bloomberg.com the pesticides found in the
contaminated frozen goods were 2.6 million times the allowed levels.
The US National Pesticide Information Center fact sheet reveals that pesticide malathion is used to shut down the nervous
systems of insects and pests that destroy crops. In humans, if overdosed, malathion passes
through the kidneys and liver and affects the nervous system, but can be
removed quickly by the body and does not often lead to death.
Health officials were forced to send the matter to local
police as they found no proof of the pesticide at the facility.
‘Some croquettes made
at the Gunma factory had 26,000 parts per million of pesticide malathion,
compared with the permitted level of 0.01 ppm,’ the official said without
identifying themselves.
Ichiro Gohara, a spokesman for Maruha Nichiro Holdings spoke
to Bloomberg reporters , ‘We test products several times a day for evidence of
spoilage, based on the law, but we had no reason to believe pesticides would be
present, so we didn’t test for that,’ Ichiro Gohara, a spokesman for the
company, said by phone, and continued, ‘Until now, we haven’t received any reports of
problems’.
The case continues as over 800 Japanese citizens have been
affected.