Japanese investigators have found traces of pesticide on more packages of Chinese-made dumplings as a team from China arrived in Tokyo amid a widening food poisoning probe.
AFP reported that the toxic substance was found on the surface of six packages of dumplings in western Japan, a spokesman for Hyogo prefectural police was quoted saying.
The packages were produced at a factory in China’s Hebei province on the same day as one that triggered a nationwide scare in Japan, the spokesman was quoted saying. According to the report, police were still checking if the dumplings themselves were also contaminated.
Japan said 10 people became sick, with one girl still in serious condition, after eating frozen meat dumplings produced at the factory in which high levels of pesticide were detected.
China, Japan’s largest trading partner and second biggest supplier of imported food, has denied Tokyo’s allegations that the dumplings themselves contained pesticides, the report said.
Meanwhile Kyodo news reported that the food-poisoning scare has sent shock waves through the major Chinatown communities of Yokohama, Kobe and Nagasaki.
The report said it has triggered concerns that tourism would drop sharply during the Chinese New Year’s celebrations this week.
Many shops in Yokohama’s Chinatown have put up signs saying their products are made in Japan.
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