Ten people have fallen ill in Japan with a girl in a serious condition after eating dumplings from China that contained insecticide, police said yesterday, warning they could press criminal charges.
The scare was breaking news shortly before dinner time in Japan, with national television broadcasting a live press conference in which distributor JT Foods said it was recalling the dumplings.
"We pray for the early recovery of those whose health was affected," said Mutsuo Iwai, an executive at cigarette giant Japan Tobacco, of which JT Foods is a subsidiary. "We sincerely apologize for the trouble."
The health ministry said Japan had requested via diplomatic channels that China, its largest trading partner, help with the investigation.
Ten people, including a mother and her four children, fell ill in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo and western Hyogo prefecture after eating gyoza dumplings, local police officials said.
At least five of them were still in hospital after suffering vomiting, stomach aches or diarrhoea, the officials said. A five-year-old girl was reported to be in a serious condition, temporarily losing consciousness.
"We are looking to see whether this constitutes a criminal case," a police official in Chiba prefecture told reporters.
An employee at the plant in Hebei Province denied wrongdoing, saying contamination of dumplings would be "impossible."
"There is no problem with our company," the employee of Tianyang Food Processing, whose name was not given, said in an interview broadcast by Japan's TV Asahi. "Our company has strict safety standards."
Iwai said Japan Tobacco first found out about the problem on Dec.r 28 when two people were hospitalized in Chiba prefecture.
He rejected suggestions the company acted late, saying it did not reveal the case for a month because "we could not find a causal link" between the dumplings and the illnesses.
JT Foods said an insecticide called methamidophos was found in the dumplings.
It said it was recalling 23 products made at the Tianyang Food factory for JT Foods.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS