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CHIBA, Japan, Jan. 30 2008 KYODO
A total of 10 people have suffered food poisoning, with one of them in a serious condition, in Chiba and Hyogo prefectures more...after eating Chinese-made frozen ''gyoza'' dumplings, the health ministry and police said Wednesday.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry decided to urge Tokyo-based importer JT Foods Co. to stop imports and sales of the dumplings, while notifying China of the situation through the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo.
JT Foods announced Wednesday evening that it would pull from store shelves two kinds of gyoza dumplings that are believed to have caused the food poisoning and 21 other items made at the same production plant in China.
The police have detected traces of an organophosphate called methamidophos inside packaging which is often used in China as a pesticide but is rarely used in Japan.
The police said they believe organophosphates may have been mixed into the dumplings during either production or packaging and they will investigate the food poisoning as possible attempted murder.
According to the health ministry, the dumplings involved in the cases in Chiba and Hyogo prefectures were ''Tezukuri Gyoza'' (handmade gyoza dumplings) and ''Tezutsumi Hitokuchi Gyoza'' (handmade bite-sized gyoza dumplings), respectively.
Both products were made by the same Chinese company and imported by JT Foods.
Of the 10 victims, five members of the same family in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, complained of diarrhea and vomiting after eating frozen dumplings and were admitted to hospital.
One member of the family, a 5-year-old girl, was in a critical condition after temporarily losing consciousness. Her parents and two other children were also seriously ill, according to the police.
None of the victims is in a life-threatening condition, they said.
Two people in the city of Chiba and three in Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture, reported similar symptoms, but all of them have been released from hospital.
Gyoza dumplings, wrapping ground meat and vegetables fillings in a thinly rolled piece of dough, are a popular food item. less
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