Slow reaction to tainted food
(From The Japan Times Sept. 27 issue)

汚染食物問題に迅速な対応を

Following the scandal in which rice contaminated with pesticides or mold toxin was resold to companies, an industrial chemical is now suspected of having found its way into food products. Marudai Food Co. has begun a recall of five products possibly made with melamine-tainted milk purchased from a Chinese firm.

Melamine causes kidney stones as well as more serious kidney ailments. What is worrisome is the slowness on the part of the government and the food maker to take action on food safety.

The mixing of melamine with milk in China surfaced Sept. 11. But it wasn't until Sept. 20 that Marudai started a recall of suspected products and the health ministry called for stricter checks of food items processed in China. A Marudai subsidiary in China had purchased contaminated raw milk from Yili, a major Chinese dairy firm, through Sumitomo Corp., a trading house.

In China, more than 54,000 infants have become sick by consuming milk contaminated with melamine and five babies have died. It is suspected that farmers added the chemical to make the milk's protein content appear higher. Chinese food safety authorities investigated 109 powdered milk makers and detected melamine in the products from 22 of them. This underscores the need for Japanese food companies to strengthen their capability to verify the quality of raw materials purchased from Chinese firms and the products made with them.

The Japanese government should call on China to disclose detailed information on the melamine-tainted milk scandal, including distribution routes.

In the tainted-rice scandal, the farm ministry at first resisted making public the names of firms to which the rice was resold. The number of such firms has now grown from some 380 in 24 prefectures to 390 in 26 prefectures. Some companies refuse to cooperate with the ministry's probe. The ministry is considering ways to shut down the distribution of tainted rice, and the merits of introducing on-the-spot inspections without prior notice and labels indicating the places of origin of rice used in products made from it. It should not lose any time implementing these measures.

農薬やカビに汚染された事故米に続き、食品への工業用化学物質混入が浮上、丸大食品は中国のメラミン入り粉乳を使った商品を回収し始めた。

結石ほか腎臓の重病を招くメラミン汚染への政府と食品会社の対応の遅れが気になる。

中国で9月11日に粉乳のメラミン汚染が発覚、丸大食品が回収を始め、政府が中国製品の厳しいチェックを呼びかけたのは20日だ。丸大の現地子会社は住友商事を通じて汚染された粉乳を中国の乳業大手、伊利から購入していた。

中国ではメラミン入り粉乳で乳幼児5万4000人に被害、5人が死亡した。当局が原料粉乳メーカー109社を検査、22社の製品からメラミンが検出された。日本の食品会社には中国から輸入した原料や加工品の品質検査の強化が求められる。

日本政府は中国に対し、流通経路を含む汚染粉乳の徹底的情報公開を求めるべきだ。

事故米問題に関しては、農水省は国内流通を打ち切り、抜き打ちの立ち入り調査、米を使った製品への生産地明記を検討しているが、これらの対策は迅速に実施されるべきだ。