Japanese chain halts rice ball sales over fake expiration dates

Tokyo – A chain of Japanese convenience stores pulled its hand -made rice balls, also known as Onigiri, shelves after the employees were surprised in the process of fueling the expiration dates.

Ministry, which has more than 1,800 stores across Japan, said that it is “emergency survey” in all of its stores after discovering that staff in certain places had incorrectly labeled the expiration dates of rice balls, which are prepared in store.

The production of handmade rice balls and boxes in Bento has been suspended since August 9, the company announced on Monday in a statement.

He indicated that he had so far confirmed that the staff of 23 locations in the country had engaged in “sales methods that depart from our product manufacturing regulations”.

The products that should have been quickly labeled with expiration dates after being prepared in the store’s kitchens “were left without any label for a while in order to extend the expiration period,” he said, while the products already posted “have been re-staged with expiration dates”.

Minister said that he had reported the 23 stores to the health service and that he “continues to do inspections, investigate the causes of these incidents and do everything possible to prevent a recurrence”.

No customer has reported related health problems, said the company.

“We sincerely apologize for the important drawbacks caused to our customers,” he said.

Onigiri, an essential in Japanese food culture, is generally stuffed with toasted salmon, beef or marinated plum and wrapped in crisp algae. This is a popular article in Japan, where convenience stores such as Ministop, known as Konbini, are a rescue buoy for customers looking for fresh take -out meals.

Arata Yamamoto reported to Tokyo, and Chelsea Chan reported to Hong Kong.