False labeling of bamboo shoots prompts raids

NAGOYA (Kyodo) Police searched an agricultural product wholesaler in Aichi Prefecture and four other companies Thursday on suspicion they sold bamboo shoots farmed in China but labeled as grown in Japan.

The move came after the agriculture ministry ordered Takenokoya and the other companies in December to address such action, which included attaching photographs of fake "farmers" to their products.

The people in the photos were simply employees of the companies, according to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry.

Takenokoya sold some 1,080 tons of boiled Chinese bamboo shoots as domestic from July 2007 to last October, according to the ministry.

The police said Takenokoya started sending bamboo shoots farmed in China to the four companies in 2003 and told them to change the packages.

Although the packages contained only a small amount of Japan-grown bamboo shoots, they were labeled as being from Kumamoto Prefecture and elsewhere in Japan and sold in supermarkets in the Kanto region, Hokkaido and other areas.

The four other companies, based in Niigata, Kyoto, Fukuoka and Kumamoto prefectures, were aware they were involved in false labeling, the police said.