Maruha Nichiro products. (Photo: Stock File)
Maruha Nichiro president resigns after scandal over contaminated products
(JAPAN, 1/28/2014)
A contract employee hired by a subsidiary of Maruha Nichiro was arrested for his alleged involvement in a case of food poisoning occurred last October. The scandal caused by contaminated food has now led to the resignation of the president of the company, which was announced through a press release.
More than 2,800 people across the country had reported feeling ill, a situation that was linked to a possible contamination of foods at a plant in Gunma Prefecture, north of Tokyo, with Malathion pesticide. This forced the nation’s largest seafood processing company to recall about 6.4 million packages of 94 products.
Traces of Malathion between under 1 ppm and 430 ppm were detected in the products.
For their part, the presidents of Maruha Nichiro Holdings and Aqli Foods have announced they will resign at the end of March after taking all responsibility for the incident.
Abe had disappeared after working his shift until late afternoon on 14 January. He was arrested on Saturday, but denied the charges. Police sources said traces of Malathion were found on work clothes worn by Abe at the plant, The Asahi Shimbun reported.
At the Gunma plant, workers are required to wear uniforms without pockets, and they are monitored while they are at production lines.
No inspection of workers’ belongings is carried out when they enter the plant. However, some workers said chemicals could be brought into the plant if they were hidden inside the lower sleeve of the uniform, The Yomiuri Shimbun informed.
Companies in the food industry understand it is difficult for a company that has lost consumers’ trust to recover it.
Related article:
- Source for Maruha’s food contamination still unclear
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Information of the company:
Address:
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1-2 1-chome, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku
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City:
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Tokyo
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State/ZIP:
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(100-8608)
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Country:
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Japan
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Phone:
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+81 3 3216 0821
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Fax:
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+81 3 3216 0342
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E-Mail:
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info@maruha-nichiro.co.jp
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