The Feud Lives On

Sounds like some people are still bitter about the "invasion". . .And what better revenge than to fuck with their Chinese food!

Chinese factory insiders suspected of tampering with dumplings

Monday 01st September, 06:48 AM JST

TOKYO —

Chinese authorities have told Japan that it is highly likely that meat dumplings linked to food poisoning incidents in China in June were contaminated with a toxic substance by insiders at the Chinese factory that made them, sources close to Japan-China relations said Sunday. Chinese authorities have interrogated 55 employees of Tianyang Food in Hebei Province, suspecting that insiders may also have been responsible for separate food poisoning incidents that occurred in Japan, the sources said.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry said Thursday that the Chinese Ministry of Public Safety notified Japan that the dumplings involved in the June food poisoning cases in China had not been put on the market.

According to the sources, when Chinese authorities made the notification, they also indicated that Tianyang Food insiders are suspected of tampering with the dumplings and selling them illegally in China after the products were recalled.

Methamidophos has reportedly been found in the dumplings. The same pesticide was detected in the food poisoning cases in Japan, which led 10 people from three families to fall sick in December 2007 and January 2008.

Chinese investigators suspect that factory insiders may have contaminated the dumplings with pesticide because of a grievance possibly related to Japan, working conditions or interpersonal relations, the sources said.

Chinese authorities have also informed Tokyo that they are conducting a comparative analysis of the toxic substance found in the dumplings linked to the food poisoning cases in China and the methamidophos detected in the cases in Japan.

Japanese and Chinese investigative authorities have been bitterly divided over where the contamination of the dumplings linked to the Japanese cases took place.

apanese police have said it is highly unlikely that the contamination occurred in Japan as the substance was not made in Japan but their Chinese counterparts have claimed that it did not occur in China.

In reference to the possibility that the dumplings in the Japanese food poisoning cases were contaminated in China, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura told reporters on Sunday, ‘‘Many Japanese people think so.’’

The Feud Lives On