Delayed response to gyoza poisoning must be investigated
(From The Japan Times Feb. 3 issue)

ギョーザ中毒問題への対応の遅れ

News that more than a thousand people have suffered food poisoning after eating insecticide-tainted gyoza dumplings imported from China has set off alarms about food safety. Traces of the organo-phosphate methamidophos were found in the frozen gyoza. This chemical is so lethal that Japan does not approve it as a farm chemical.

A minute after eating the gyoza, a high-school senior in Hyogo Prefecture collapsed, convulsed and vomited. A 5-year-old girl in Chiba Prefecture temporarily lost consciousness. Japan and China should cooperate to determine how the chemical got into the gyoza. Importers and distributors must immediately recall suspected gyoza from the market.

The biggest problem is that the food contamination did not become widely known until more than a month after the first case of food poisoning occurred. On Dec. 28, 2007, a mother and daughter in Chiba City became the first victims. But the Chiba and Kanagawa prefectural police didn't announce the start of an investigation until Jan. 30. What were they — importers and distributors, the health ministry, the farm ministry, local governments and police — doing during the month? They should have been warning people earlier not to eat suspected gyoza.

The government should find out why authorities failed to take immediate action. At least, food poisonings detected by hospitals and other public organizations should be immediately reported to the government. The latest incident strengthened Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's case for creating a Consumer Agency.

Statistics show that Japan imported about 200,000 tons of frozen food from China in 2006, more than five times the amount in 1997. The system for inspecting imported processed food requires strengthening.

中国製冷凍ギョーザの農薬混入問題は、食の安全を脅かすものだ。全国で1,000人以上が中毒症状を訴えたとされるが、検出された農薬メタミドホスは毒性が非常に強く、日本では使用禁止になっている。

兵庫県の高校生は、問題のギョーザを食べてすぐに椅子から倒れ、けいれんして、おう吐したという。千葉県の5歳の女児は一時的に意識を失った。日中両国は、農薬がギョーザに混入した原因について、協力して調査すべきだ。

問題は、最初の中毒事件が起きてから1ヶ月も対策が取られなかったことだ。その間、輸入・販売業者、厚労省、地方自治体、警察は何をしていたのか。今回の問題は、福田政権の「消費者庁」構想に弾みをつけるだろう。

日本の中国からの冷凍食品輸入は、増大の一歩を辿っている。輸入加工食品に対する検査制度をより厳しくすべきである。