McLovin (not): McDonald’s customer finds human teeth in her food in Japan

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Douglas Powell

A customer who bought a Big Mac meal in Japan was shocked to discover a human tooth in the fries – in the latest food safety scandal that has led to plummeting sales in the country this year.

Japanese officials apologized to the customer for the incident, which occurred in August last year, and said none of the employees at the branch in question had lost a tooth.

They added there were no signs the tooth had been fried – and said they are investigating how it came to be in the fries.

Senior executive Takehiko Aoki said: ‘To make such cases zero is our goal. We are doing our utmost to tackle them, one by one.’

He added: ‘I will eat McNuggets. I will feed McNuggets to my children. I have no doubts.’

McDonald’s is extremely popular in Japan with more than 3,000 restaurants.

But a series of recent scares, including customers finding fillings and plastic in chicken nuggets, has led to the company reporting its first annual operating loss in Japan.

Sales for January fell by a record 39%, and over the course of 2014, losses totaled 6.7billion yen – or $57 million. This is compared with an operating profit of 11.5billion yen a year earlier.

So sorry: plastic pieces found in Japanese McNuggets

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Douglas Powell

McDonald’s Japan is facing yet another food safety scandal after two customers found pieces of plastic in their Chicken McNuggets.

The first discovery, made on Saturday, spurred McDonald’s Japan to pull all 956,925 nuggets made by a Cargill unit in Thailand on the same day, in the same factory.

Despite the preventative action, another customer reported finding plastic inside a chicken nugget on Monday. McDonald’s is investigating, but has not yet said if the two incidents are related.

“We deeply apologize for the trouble we have caused our customers and we are taking quick measures to analyze the cause of the contamination,” said company spokesman Takashi Hasegasa.

The incidents are the latest in a string of food scares that have shaken Japanese consumer confidence in McDonald’s.

Among other incidents, a human tooth was found in a customer’s french fry in August, while a child in December cut his mouth on a piece of plastic that was in a chocolate sundae.

Last July, the company was among several fast food chains to be hit by a scandal involving tainted meat from a Chinese supplier.

Sales at McDonald’s Japan have dropped more than 10 percent every month compared to the same period last year since the food scare hit, even after the company switched to suppliers in Thailand. The company has said it expects to post a net loss for its current fiscal year — the first annual loss in 11 years — as a result.

Nine people choke to death eating rice cakes in Japan

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Douglas Powell

Japan’s habitual New Year killer has struck again, after nine people were reported to have died in recent days from choking on rice cakes.

Mochi – glutinous cakes of pounded rice – are traditionally eaten in vast quantities over the holidays, usually in soup, or toasted and served with sweet soy sauce and wrapped in dried seaweed.

Several people die eating the starchy delicacy every January, but this year the number is particularly high.

Local media reported that nine people had died over the holidays, while 13 others were in a serious condition in hospital.

USDA says no to raw meat; Japan to ban raw pork, ‘liver sashimi’ at restaurants

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Douglas Powell

As the U.S. Department of Agriculture reminds consumers to avoid raw meat, Japan’s health ministry will ban all raw pork, including raw pork liver, from restaurants because of the “major health risks” it can pose, sources said.

The ministry’s move will be based on the recommendation of a specialist research panel of the Food Safety Commission, which is under the Cabinet Office.

The panel started discussions on the adequacy of raw pork served at restaurants after a deadly food poisoning outbreak involving raw beef dishes. Panel members on Dec. 10 concluded that uncooked pork should not be served to customers.

The health ministry will revise codes of the food sanitation law to stipulate the ban on serving raw pork at restaurants and other eateries.

Violators of the ban will face business suspension orders and other administrative penalties, the sources said.

In 2012, the government banned raw beef liver for consumption, a popular item at yakiniku barbeque restaurants and izakaya Japanese pubs, following a series of food poisoning cases from raw beef. Some establishments switched to raw pork liver.

USDA says that raw meat dishes like tartare may be more common this time of year, but they still come with health risks.

“Tiger meat” is another traditional winter dish. Despite the name, this dish is not made using meat from tigers. It’s a holiday mixture of raw ground beef, raw eggs, onions and other seasonings served on rye bread or crackers. Beef tartare, tiger meat, and dishes alike have ground beef and eggs that pose a health hazard when eaten undercooked or raw.

Raw ground beef has been associated with several large outbreaks of foodborne illness. In 2012, an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that sickened 17 people in Wisconsin was caused by this traditional dish.

Most bacteria in meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs can be killed by thorough cooking. To prevent illness, ground beef should always be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 °F. The only way to tell if the temperature is right is with a food thermometer. Color is not an accurate indicator that ground beef is fully cooked. Also, if you’re cooking another dish like meatballs or meatloaf, remember not to try any of the dishes before cooking, even if you just want to taste the seasoning.

Nursery school students in Japan confirmed with E. coli O111

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Four Okinawa nursery school students are confirmed to have contracted Enerohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O111.

Three of the children have diarrheal symptoms, but none have been hospitalized. One student showing continued symptoms is moving toward recovery, says the Health and Longevity Division of Okinawa Prefecure.

Lost in translation? Pizza Hut in Japan is now totally being run by cats and they’re understandably terrible at it

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Douglas Powell

The latest treat from Japan is a website announcing the grand opening of Pizza Cat!, a Pizza Hut restaurant apparently run entirely by cats. The campaign is rolling out as tiny “episodes” of each “employee” cat doing jobs like delivering pizzas, cleaning the floors and managing the money.

We’re not quite sure of the actual point of it all, but according to the translation of the YouTube page, “Pizza Cat! Store is a fictional store.”

Is it really that strong? There are reptile cafes in Japan and handwashing is strongly encouraged

Posted on August 2, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Most people lose their appetites when they hear that a snake or salamander is crawling around near them. Not Japan, though. While it seems taboo in most places around the world, the country is the home to more than one Reptile Cafe. One in particular is the Yokohama Subtropic Teahouse.

For those unfamiliar with a reptile cafe, because who is, the locations serve a variety of things ranging from alcohol to food. Customers can order drinks, non-alcoholic or otherwise, and interact with the reptiles, Kotaku reports. Though, they strongly mention that if you’re to pick up a reptile from its cage, you’ll also run the risk of salmonella. In other words, eat first or just order reptile food to feed the critters.

300 suffer food poisoning at Japanese sports tournament

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Police and health officials in Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, said Monday that around 300 students suffered food poisoning at a soccer and rugby tournament. Of those, 120 were taken to hospital but none suffered any lasting effects, police said.

According to police, players taking part in an elementary school soccer and rugby tournament started vomiting and complaining of stomach pain at around 1 p.m. Sunday, TV Asahi reported.

Police suspect the cause of the food poisoning may have been in some of the bentos (boxed lunches), which all came from the same supplier.

Over 2800 sickened; Japan food safety badly shaken by in-company poisoning of food

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Douglas Powell

With over 2,800 sick from deliberate poisoning with a pesticide at a Japanese frozen food manufacturers, the presidents of the firm did the only honorable thing: fall on their swords.

A 49-year-old contract worker at the plant where frozen food was laced with the agricultural chemical malathion has been arrested by the Gunma prefectural police on suspicion of obstructing business. The suspect worked at the Gunma plant of Aqli Foods Corp., a subsidiary of leading food maker Maruha Nichiro Holdings Inc.

The man is suspected of lacing frozen food produced at the plant with malathion on four occasions in October. About 2,800 people across the country have complained of feeling ill after eating pizza and other frozen food produced at the plant.

The presidents of Maruha Nichiro Holdings and Aqli Foods have announced they will resign at the end of March to take responsibility for the latest incident.

The companies failed to respond promptly, taking 1½ months to launch a self-imposed recall of products after receiving a complaint in November of an odd odor from pizza manufactured at the plant.

2800 sick; man arrested over Japan food poisoning

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Japanese police have arrested a factory worker for allegedly poisoning frozen food with pesticides, in a case that sickened more than 2,800 people across the nation, news reports say.

Gunma Police Department arrested the 49-year-old man, identified as Toshiki Abe, who works at a frozen food factory in Gunma, north of Tokyo, run by a subsidiary of Maruha Nichiro Holdings, Japan’s largest seafood firm, according to public broadcaster NHK and other local media.

The suspect denied the allegations, while the motive behind the alleged crime was still unknown, NHK reported.

Local police officials declined to comment.

The subsidiary, Aqlifoods, received the first of a series of complaints in November, with a customer saying its frozen pizza smelled like machine oil.

But the firm did not announce a product recall until December 29, after tests found traces of a chemical called malathion, which is used as a pesticide and to treat head lice.

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