Peco-Chan Gets Sick

[Mulboyne]

[floatl][/floatl]Asahi: Fujiya Co. plagued by rats, bacteria
A day after acknowledging it shipped thousands of cream puffs that were produced using milk that had passed its expiry date, Fujiya Co. said it also distributed cakes that were not fit for human consumption. Officials of the Tokyo-based confectioner said Thursday that 113 chou rolls produced last June at its Saitama Prefecture factory were delivered to Fujiya cake and pastry outlets even though they contained dangerously high levels of bacteria. The readings were 10 times the level permissible under the Food Sanitation Law. They also said the Niiza city factory used processed apple past its use date to manufacture hundreds of apple pies. Rats, they added, had also been a problem. As many as 50 of the disease-carrying vermin were caught in traps at the factory in a single month in 2004...more...

[Iraira]

[floatl][/floatl]Asahi: Fujiya Co. plagued by rats, bacteria
A day after acknowledging it shipped thousands of cream puffs that were produced using milk that had passed its expiry date, Fujiya Co. said it also distributed cakes that were not fit for human consumption. Officials of the Tokyo-based confectioner said Thursday that 113 chou rolls produced last June at its Saitama Prefecture factory were delivered to Fujiya cake and pastry outlets even though they contained dangerously high levels of bacteria. The readings were 10 times the level permissible under the Food Sanitation Law. They also said the Niiza city factory used processed apple past its use date to manufacture hundreds of apple pies. Rats, they added, had also been a problem. As many as 50 of the disease-carrying vermin were caught in traps at the factory in a single month in 2004...more...

I assume that there is a permissable number of rates that can be caught in traps per month that would allow this not to become an issue.

[dimwit]

Is there an izakaya or bar in Japan that doesn't have a thriving colony of our furry friends? Gee, for that matter I can't think of a single restaurant that would Best Ago Food. My bet is the Fujiya didn't get its bribes in on time this month.

[Doctor Stop]

485 rats captured at scandal-tainted Fujiya factory
A total of 485 rats have been caught at Fujiya Co.'s Saitama factory -- where expired materials were used to produce cakes -- over 3 1/2 years, an internal document has shown.

"If news of the rats leaks to the media, we will face a financial crisis and bankruptcy," the document states, illustrating the firm's tendency to cover up internal problems.

The top secret document was submitted to the firm's corporate restructuring panel. It carries a graph showing the number of rats captured at its Saitama factory in Niiza, Saitama Prefecture, each month.

In 2003, a total of 109 rats were captured, and 221 were caught throughout 2004, according to the graph. A total of 145 and 10 were caught in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Twenty or more were caught every month from March 2004 to July of the same year, and the figure hit a record high of 50 in April.

Shortly after the scandal came to light, the company announced that as many as 50 rats were captured in a single month in 2004. The announcement was obviously based on the document.

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070126p2a00m0na013000c.html

[Captain Japan]

Get ready for 30-40 Peko-chan statues to hit Yahoo! Auctions...
30 to 40 Fujiya franchise stores to close down after stale cake scandal
Mainichi

Some 30 to 40 Fujiya franchise stores will close down following revelations that the confectionery maker used ingredients that had passed their expiry dates to make cakes, company officials said Thursday.

Most of the stores that intend to close are located in the Kanto region around Tokyo and the Kansai district that includes Osaka and Kobe. Fujita has some 800 franchise stores nationwide.

Many of them were forced to suspend their business because the company had completely stopped producing sweets, and they were urged by the owners of the buildings housing them to move out after they were unable to pay their rent.

Some of them have been forced to give up reopening their stores, even though they were previously profitable. The number of stores that will close down may further increase, company officials said.

The company is considering financial support for franchise stores that are likely to close. "We'd like franchise stores to do business with us. We'd like to consider assistance for them including compensation for losses they suffer while they suspend their business," said Fujiya President Yasufumi Sakurai.