Two execs arrested for false bamboo labeling

TOKUSHIMA (Kyodo) Police on Sunday arrested two executives of a food company on suspicion of passing off boiled bamboo shoots as produced in Tokushima even though they came from China.

Teruyoshi Kanbara, the 54-year-old president of Shinsei Foods Co. based in Anan, Tokushima Prefecture, and his brother, Yoshiaki, the 48-year-old managing director of the company, were arrested for selling 19 tons of falsely labeled bamboo shoots between June and December 2008 for ¥10 million, according to the police.

The products were sold in bags and cans bearing labels saying they were produced in Tokushima Prefecture, police said.

The products were sold to a food wholesaler in Tokushima Prefecture and another in Nagoya, and bills sent to them also showed that the bamboo shoots were grown in Tokushima.

According to the prefectural government, the company sold a total of 90 tons of bamboo shoots to the two companies between October 2007 and September 2008. The police checked the products and confirmed that at least 19 tons of the shoots were produced in China, leading them to arrest the two men.

Sunday's arrests came after the prefectural government issued an order in March to Shinsei Foods to correct the product labels.