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Travelers to Japan warned about caviar

People planning to travel to Japan were warned yesterday to steer clear of China-produced caviar sold there that has been mislabeled as originating from Russia.

Liu Ching-fang (劉清芳), a division chief at the Consumer Protection Commission, urged travelers to be careful when buying caviar in Japan and to be on the lookout for falsely labeled Chinese products.

WARNING

Liu's warning came after the economic division of the Taiwan representative office in Japan notified the commission that two Japanese department store chains -- Seibu Department Stores and SOGO Department Store Co -- were found on Feb. 7 to be selling Chinese-produced caviar which was labeled as coming from Russia.

Seibu and SOGO had reportedly delivered bottles of the mislabeled caviar as year-end gifts to some 300 people across Japan between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31.

The two department stores did not check the origin of the caviar, sourced by the Millennium Retailing Group.

COMPLAINTS

So far, 270 Japanese consumers have asked to have the product replaced, complaining about the taste.

The Millennium Retailing Group has made detailed reports to Japan's Fair Trade Commission and offered an apology to Japanese consumers, Liu said.

Although the caviar is not sold in Taiwan, and there have not been any indications that eating the China-made caviar could endanger one's health, Liu said the commission still saw fit to warn local travelers about the situation.

DUMPLINGS

In related news, officials from the Taipei City Department of Health said yesterday that a brand of frozen Chinese dumplings removed from the shelves of Taipei's Pacific SOGO Department Store last month was found to be free of pesticides.

The department said the distributor would still be fined, however, because the dumplings were labeled as made in Japan.

The dumplings were removed from the SOGO Department Store Zhongxiao branch in Taipei because they were the same brand as those that caused 2,000 Japanese to fall ill last month.

Taipei's health department said the dumplings removed from the retailer's shelves here had different lot numbers and expiration dates than the contaminated dumplings found in Japan, but their sale was still suspended as a precautionary measure.
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