China Sends Team to Japan to Work on Dumpling Case, Kyodo Says

Source from:  By Mayumi Otsuma Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) 02/04/2008

China sent a five-member team of quality control experts to Tokyo to help investigate a food poisoning outbreak that Japanese authorities have linked to Chinese-made dumplings, Kyodo News reported. The group will meet with Japanese counterparts to find out how a pesticide called methamidophos ended up in the food made by Tianyang Food, Kyodo said, citing Li Chunfeng, the team's leader. The number of people in Japan claiming to be ill because of Tianyang products totaled 1,117 in 39 of Japan's 47 prefectures as of Feb. 1, according to Kyodo. A quality control official in China's Hebei Province said yesterday that an investigation into the factory that made the dumplings had found no proof of poisoning, Kyodo reported. The head of the factory said its own investigation found no problems with production, Kyodo reported. The dumplings, known as ``gyoza'' in Japan, are being recalled by Japan Tobacco Inc. and other Japanese companies. To contact the reporter on this story: Mayumi Otsuma in Tokyo at motsuma@bloomberg.net Enditem