About 35 tons of Snow Brand milk and other dairy products were destroyed Friday at cement incinerators belonging to Taiheiyo Cement Corp. in Tsukumi and Saeki, Oita Prefecture.
The products were part of a recall mainly affecting the Kansai region after some 14,000 people were struck down by food poisoning linked to Snow Brand milk products.
At around 9 a.m., about 28 tons of recalled products arrived at the Tsukumi facility from Osaka. Employees hauled them into the incinerator by hand.
High-capacity incinerators needed to dispose of liquid-rich products are difficult to find, but milk cartons and plastic packages of dairy products are not harmful when incinerated, according to officials of Snow Brand Milk Products Co.
The incinerators have obtained permission to treat industrial waste, and the Oita Prefectural Government has authorized them to accept Snow Brand products, which are scheduled to be brought in on a daily basis.