Mikasa Foods likely bought tainted rice for 3 yen and sold it for 70 yen

Wednesday 10th September, 10:08 AM JST

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Altria at 09:59 AM JST - 10th September

INSANE profitz!11!!
desmosedici at 10:08 AM JST - 10th September

The company responsible has folded and all its employees are on the dole.

Is it? Didn't they just send out letters to their customers saying they will only be selling the "good stuff" from now on.
Dogdog at 10:09 AM JST - 10th September

This is a structural issue very specific to Japan, it really has very little to do with the morals, or lack of them, of the Japanese. Basicaly deflation has affected all areas of the economy and the Japanese consumer, over the years, have expected foodstuffs to follow the same path as all other products.

However the problem with food stuffs, unlike services or manufactured goods, is there is not much room for deflation in price without structural reform of eliminating the middle men and overhauling the transport system or lowering tarrifs on imported goods, which will never happen under the LDP and probably never under the DPJ. Under such pressure the producers have cut corners, Snowbrand, Nippon Ham and Mikasa Foods, to lower price and still mantain a profit. Food manufacturing in Japan is a mirror of the Japanese EFL industry, but with more serious consequences. Eventually in the present closed Japanese market, the Japanese consummer, rather than the Japanese food manufacturer, is going to have to resolve this question by balancing the price variable with concerns for food safety. Without resolution this problem will continue and in all probability become worse. By the way I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. Those Y99 onigiris and Y350 gyudons come with a health risk, wait and see!
suebe36d at 10:22 AM JST - 10th September

Expose, heavily fine and shame all involved however marginally to kill off this despicable practice
mikihouse at 11:11 AM JST - 10th September

the company head said that they were nearing bankcruptcy and needed money to survive...he then decided to sell the rice as something else...he just signed his own death certificate and hasten the inevitable. Japan economy is in shambles and the LDP has no idea how to fix the system. I am glad nobody died but still this news is scary. Yesterday, another supermarket was raided because they are selling sushi that has gone beyond the limited allowed period.
burikko at 11:19 AM JST - 10th September

Here is a data map that shows dead persons caused by cancer of liver. Lots of persons had died in western Japan. Mikasa was selling their rice mainly in western Japan.

http://ganjoho.ncc.go.jp/resources/graphdatabase/images/OSV109908_2005.jpg
burikko at 11:29 AM JST - 10th September

Sorry. Here is new map.

http://ganjoho.ncc.go.jp/pro/statistics/gdball.html?7%9%1
fatloser at 11:33 AM JST - 10th September

A fine way to treat your fellow citizens!! Would it be any better if they had sold it for 4 yen?? Would that make it BETTER or SAFER????? Tell me THAT!!
Osakadaz at 04:02 PM JST - 10th September

This is a real concern to me, as I mainly drink Imojouchu these days.Anyone know which Shouchu brands were affected? These kinds of guys should have their hands amputated. ;)
boobug at 05:10 PM JST - 10th September

Forget these silly numbers. Show me the total cost to the company, Mikasa, after they are shut down by METI. Yeh, like that would ever happen !
burikko at 07:10 PM JST - 10th September

Ministry of agriculture has been promoting tainted rice sales. The Asahi Shinbun reported today, 18 rice traders commented that they had been offered tainted rice by ministry of agriculture and had been perplexed.
tclh at 09:36 PM JST - 10th September

So what I understand here is that Japanese government import(?) this "tainted " rice (unfit for human consumption) from China and then SELL it to a food (for human consumption)manufacturing company...is this legal in Japan? Next time when J-government complain about mad cow disease of beef from US ,certainly people will not forget this.
chibaman at 09:47 PM JST - 10th September

You'd have to eat more than 50kg of this rice a day before the drugs kicked in. You'd explode for volume reasons before that. Eat less fatties.

Starting to think this country has gotten a little too concerned about supposed cleanliness and health and what not, look at how dirty the streets are and how dirty those with less moral fibre than myself are, when did they get all high and mighty? My goodness.

And as for sources of food, only a sucker pays more cos it was from this prefecture or that village with huts, and may god or his nearest real equivalent help us all if the product is indistinguishable but came from that unrelenting red beast to the West.
burikko at 11:38 PM JST - 10th September

J-government complain about mad cow disease of beef from US

It is double standards of Japanese government. This problem owe to their bureaucrats, therefore they insist this is less harm. I think that is not true.

You'd have to eat more than 50kg of this rice a day before the drugs kicked in.

This rice is raw materials for sake, vinegar, many confectionaries and other starch products. People may have had those without realizing.
HanaKimi at 10:48 PM JST - 13th September

Some additional facts for thsoe of you with students:

The contaminated rice was from multiple sources

He bought the rice from the Japanese government, ostensibly to be used in the manufacture of industrial glues and rice paper, and then turned around and sold it for consumption.

So:

1) The Chinese and Vietnamese rice had been marked **- in the country of origin - as **unfit for consumption.

2) The Japanese government imported it under their WTO agreements to import established levels of foreign rice - the agreements don't specify the rice has to be edible.

3) Fuyuki purchased 800 tons of this rice from the government, knowing exactly what he was buying and what it was meant to be used for - glue and paper manufacture.

4) Fuyuki then turned around and knowingly sold nearly half of it for human consumption.

So, the only person involved in any wrongdoing here is Fuyuki (and any of his underlings that were in on the plan).