Tokyo Knew Chinese Gyoza Were Bad Three Weeks Ago

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]Yomiuri: Tokyo govt aware of bad gyoza Jan. 7
The Tokyo metropolitan government failed to make public a report from JT Foods Co. that JTF had received complaints from consumers about nausea and diarrhea suffered after they ate the same frozen gyoza dumplings imported by JTF from China that caused health problems elsewhere across the country, even though the report was received Jan. 7, according to sources. It is feared the Tokyo metropolitan government's slow handling of the situation could exacerbate damages. On Jan. 7, the Tokyo metropolitan government was informed by the Hyogo prefectural government that a food poisoning case, which is suspected of being caused by an organic phosphorus agricultural chemical, was found in the prefecture and was asked by the prefectural government to inquire about the food poisoning with JTF...The ward public health center conducted an investigation via telephone to JTF's food management division. The investigation found that a consumer called a JTF outlet store in June 2007 complaining about poor health after eating gyoza, and an izakaya pub told JTF that a customer vomited after eating similar gyoza in August 2007. The ward government informed the metropolitan government of the two cases. But the metropolitan government did not announce the Hyogo case or the two cases discovered from JTF...more...

[Adhesive]

God, this is all my father-in-law can talk about. He's E-mailed us twice about it and even called us and left a message on our answering machine. Little does he know we're old pros at dealing with deadly Chinese imports.

[ttjereth]

So does this mean I shouldn't eat the two packages of gyoza in the fridge...

[Iraira]

So does this mean I shouldn't eat the two packages of gyoza in the fridge...

I always have a summer gyoza taikai, and I've found that adding some DDT to the batch makes no difference in the taste. Afterwards, we inebriatedly go outside and see who can kill the most mosquitos per belch.

[FG Lurker]

So does this mean I shouldn't eat the two packages of gyoza in the fridge...

Are they made in China? It will say on the package. If so I would toss 'em, and try to avoid buying food prepared (or grown) in China in the future.

A lot of cheap restaurants use Chinese-made ingredients too. It's the only way they can make a profit while selling food at very low prices.

[ttjereth]

[Iraira]

My wife, with her typical overreactions to everything and anything, refuses to eat any gyoza or frozen foods at all for the moment.

You should consider how to use this to your advantage, in an erotic manner. My gf and I are going to play "Insect Meets Insecticide" tonight....I'm writing the script as we speak...

"Oh, baby, block my spiracles"
"Inhibit my 28S rRNA!"
"Through mutation I will develop the ability to not only resist you, but members of entire classes of insecticides related to you!"
"Retain yourself at a high concentration in my green leafy vegetables, Clarence Birdseye."
http://www.birdseyefoods.com/corp/about/clarenceBirdseye.asp

[Greji]

You should consider how to use this to your advantage, in an erotic manner. My gf and I are going to play "Insect Meets Insecticide" tonight....I'm writing the script as we speak...

"Oh, baby, block my spiracles"
"Inhibit my 28S rRNA!"
"Through mutation I will develop the ability to not only resist you, but members of entire classes of insecticides related to you!"
"Retain yourself at a high concentration in my green leafy vegetables, Clarence Birdseye."
http://www.birdseyefoods.com/corp/about/clarenceBirdseye.asp

Can you get laid with this line? I'm taking notes just in case.....

[Iraira]

Can you get laid with this line? I'm taking notes just in case.....

Probably, gf doesn't understand English......well, at least she claims that she doesn't, but we all know that is just a ruse, so she can listen in on what I might be saying to others about her or any other females. I love paranoia.

[ttjereth]

Probably, gf doesn't understand English......well, at least she claims that she doesn't, but we all know that is just a ruse, so she can listen in on what I might be saying to others about her or any other females. I love paranoia.

My wife used to read my email when we first got married.

Since I log everything on my computer I knew about after the first time she did it, but let her keep doing it and used a different program for most of mail.

[Kuang_Grade]

Why is this being handled at the prefecture level and not a national level? It would seem that most other countries have a system while locally based, does feed into to some national level system to get the word out and to activate federal level authorities to get bad products off the shelves nation wide. In cases where products are pulled from the shelf, what agency makes that call?

In all fairness though, I doubt the health authorities would place much weight on reports of "I was at a bar drinking and I threw up' unless they get multiple reports about the same place.

Or is this story just getting hyped because of the China connection and/or this level of alleged problem makes the recent J food scandals of merely changing expiration dates/selling old product/mislabeling product look fairly benign?

[ttjereth]

Why is this being handled at the prefecture level and not a national level? It would seem that most other countries have a system while locally based, does feed into to some national level system to get the word out and to activate federal level authorities to get bad products off the shelves nation wide. In cases where products are pulled from the shelf, what agency makes that call?

In all fairness though, I doubt the health authorities would place much weight on reports of "I was at a bar drinking and I threw up' unless they get multiple reports about the same place.

Or is this story just getting hyped because of the China connection and/or this level of alleged problem makes the recent J food scandals of merely changing expiration dates/selling old product/mislabeling product look fairly benign?

I think it's the scale of it. Over 300 people sick last time I bothered to look at the news. According to the news there were also several people, including a young girl, in danger of dying from the poisoning?

Also these gyoza (the ones from the original story, although there seem to be problems with other brands as well now), while possibly served at bars, are made for home use and sold in your regular grocery store with the frozen foods.

[GomiGirl]

Never really been a gyoza fan. Probably a good thing after reading this thread.

[Kuang_Grade]

Given the amount of press coverage, sure, folks are going to be coming out of the woodwork and probably saying things "I walked by a restaurant selling gyoza and I started to feel bad'.

I'm thinking about that Belgium Coca-Cola "scare" in 1999, which turned out to be just mass hysteria rather than an actual health issue. While one family has been reported seriously ill, that could simply be a case of straight up old fashioned home grown food poisoning (which can be quite serious for young children). Given that this product has been on the shelves for quite a while now (at least six weeks now), if there was something seriously wrong with the product, you'd think there would be a much bigger and distinct pattern of people getting sick, like what cropped up during the contaminated milk problem at Snow foods a few years back. Granted it is a frozen food, so it's consumption would be spread out over time but still something more conclusive should have cropped up by now.

To me, given the number of J food scares in the last few months and even this week's 'mercury in tuna...not a big deal for J folks' articles, this story is getting alot of play without any clear evidence of anything as of yet and it seems mostly to do with the food being from China more than any other thing.

[Takechanpoo]

I had worked with Chinese dudes in my early 20s for a few years. So I wholeheartedly know how they are irresponsible, coercive and lawless. You must not imagine what Chinese dudes do by the measure of yourselve. They are most far from civilization among human beings.

[GomiGirl]

I had worked with Chinese dudes in my early 20s for a few years. So I wholeheartedly know how they are irresponsible, coercive and lawless. You must not imagine what Chinese dudes do by the measure of yourselve. They are most far from civilization among human beings.

What has your opinion of Chinese people got to do with this thread?

[Midwinter]

I had worked with Chinese dudes in my early 20s for a few years. So I wholeheartedly know how they are irresponsible, coercive and lawless. You must not imagine what Chinese dudes do by the measure of yourselve. They are most far from civilization among human beings.

I swear to God you just described your average Japanese working man.

[Greji]

What has your opinion of Chinese people got to do with this thread?

Simple, they originally invented wonton which became gyouza, sprayed it with bug spray and sent it to Japan in a carefully hatched plan to poision Take and Noriko. So even though being a man of few words, who reframes from violent out bursts and passing gas, he was backed into a corner here and was forced into posting his opinion on this extreme rare ocassion.

[Takechanpoo]

this extreme rare occassion.

If you have done physical labor with smuggler Chinese, you never say like this.
They are really terrible dudes.

[GuyJean]

If you have done physical labor with smuggler Chinese, you never say like this.
They are really terrible dudes.

So, you worked with smuggling Chinese in your early twenties a few years ago? That would make you about 27... and just as bad as those terrible Chinese!

GJ

[Midwinter]

If you have done physical labor with smuggler Chinese, you never say like this.
They are really terrible dudes.

Of course they're terrible people, they're fucking smugglers! Not like they're going to say please, offer a thank you, and then tuck you in at night with a good night kiss ffs.

[ttjereth]

Given the amount of press coverage, sure, folks are going to be coming out of the woodwork and probably saying things "I walked by a restaurant selling gyoza and I started to feel bad'.

I'm thinking about that Belgium Coca-Cola "scare" in 1999, which turned out to be just mass hysteria rather than an actual health issue. While one family has been reported seriously ill, that could simply be a case of straight up old fashioned home grown food poisoning (which can be quite serious for young children). Given that this product has been on the shelves for quite a while now (at least six weeks now), if there was something seriously wrong with the product, you'd think there would be a much bigger and distinct pattern of people getting sick, like what cropped up during the contaminated milk problem at Snow foods a few years back. Granted it is a frozen food, so it's consumption would be spread out over time but still something more conclusive should have cropped up by now.

To me, given the number of J food scares in the last few months and even this week's 'mercury in tuna...not a big deal for J folks' articles, this story is getting alot of play without any clear evidence of anything as of yet and it seems mostly to do with the food being from China more than any other thing.

The gyoza tested positive for phosphorus something or other and so have several of the victims, so unless insecticide is a normal gyoza ingredient, I don't think it's a mistaken case of "straight up old fashioned home grown food poisoning"

[Jack]

Can you get laid with this line? I'm taking notes just in case.....

He said it was his gf, so I guess it's a sure thing. He got laid.

[Jack]

Chinese people will cut corners anywhere they can. Here's how it might work in a sushi restaurant:

Jappanese owned restaurant:
Fish supplier: I got some fresh salmon today
Japanese owner/chef: The fish doesn't look fresh, I don't want it.

Chinese owned restaurant:
Fish supplier: I got some fresh salmon today
Chinese owner/chef: The fish doesn't look fresh, give me a discount.

[Charles]

Jeez, I just bought a pack of frozen gyoza, I had to go to my freezer to check it. Unfortunately, the story didn't have much info on specific brands. My package was Korean, which for all I know means it's repackaged Chinese poison gyoza.

[Kuang_Grade]

The gyoza tested positive for phosphorus something or other and so have several of the victims, so unless insecticide is a normal gyoza ingredient, I don't think it's a mistaken case of "straight up old fashioned home grown food poisoning"

You are right, it could simply be an old fashioned poisoning. Yeah, I saw that although the level of the insecticide was left out..some just say it was present others say 'traces' of it....And that fact that it has seriously impacted one family but not others to the same harsh degree (barring the chance they sat down and ate huge amounts gyoza in a short period of time, which would probably have its own health issues) makes me think there's something up with the family vs being automatically an issue with the product. I'm not saying that there isn't a possible issue with the food, just that it seems that press is going in overdrive mode with very little actual information.

[Mike Oxlong]

I'm not saying that there isn't a possible issue with the food, just that it seems that press is going in overdrive mode with very little actual information.

You mean the Sasebo murder "reporting" wasn't an isolated incident?!

[ttjereth]

You are right, it could simply be an old fashioned poisoning. Yeah, I saw that although the level of the insecticide was left out..some just say it was present others say 'traces' of it....And that fact that it has seriously impacted one family but not others to the same harsh degree (barring the chance they sat down and ate huge amounts gyoza in a short period of time, which would probably have its own health issues) makes me think there's something up with the family vs being automatically an issue with the product. I'm not saying that there isn't a possible issue with the food, just that it seems that press is going in overdrive mode with very little actual information.

I get what you're saying. I'm honestly wary of a lot of foods after all these scandals. Hell I've had food poisoning 3 separate times in Japan off of non-improted foods (at least two of the times anyway, for the third I'm not sure where lotteria gets there ingredients, judging by my bodies reaction to it I'd say roadkill from a sub-saharan country)...

I do have to say I question the wisdom of importing food from a country that hates you however.

[Mulboyne]

This incident has caused a bigger media shitstorm than any domestic or Chinese food scandal to date and the suspicion of some deliberate intent seems to have fuelled the fears. I'm sure some of the people citing illness were getting caught up in the hysteria and are largely unaffected. There are also probably a few chancers who are hoping to get some undeserved compensation but it seems undeniable that there have been some serious incidents.

[ttjereth]

Just ate some of the gyoza in my fridge for dinner. If you don't hear from me for awhile, you'll know why