Scandal-stung Meat Hope fires staff, packs it in

SAPPORO (Kyodo) Its business hamstrung by a false labeling scandal, meat-processor Meat Hope Co. informed all 60 of its employees Monday they will be laid off.

The agriculture ministry meanwhile said the company began mislabeling its products as far back as 1983 and that it has sold 368 tons of falsely labeled meat products to 18 companies since last July.

"It is difficult to maintain our company now," Yoshihito Tanaka, senior managing director of the Hokkaido-based firm and a son of President Minoru Tanaka, told a meeting of its employees, according to company officials. "We will have to fire you," he was quoted as saying.

The company halted business Monday.

The move came after police searched the Tomakomai-based company and partner Hokkaido Katokichi Co. on Sunday on suspicion of violating the unfair competition prevention law.

Meat Hope has been found to have falsely labeled mixed ground beef and pork as ground beef, and to have mislabeled Brazilian chicken meat as domestic and shipping it to two Hokkaido cities for use in school meals.

A former Meat Hope employee has also said that the firm altered the expiration date for frozen croquettes by buying back outdated products from stores at a discount, changing the use-by date, and reselling them to affiliated restaurants and volume retailers.

An inspection by the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has revealed that Meat Hope began falsely labeling meat as early as 24 years ago, the ministry said in a report Monday, adding it has found at least 10 cases of mislabeling.

Starting in 2004, the company began trying to improve the color of the mislabeled minced beef by adding cattle hearts, the ministry said.

The practice of mislabeling meat products was regularly carried out under the direction of Minoru Tanaka and other executives, the ministry said.

The president admitted last week that he ordered the firm's processing plant to mix minced pork with beef to cut costs.

For related stories:
Meat Hope chief admits pork was disguised as ground beef
Meat Hope and partner raided over mislabeling