The Saitama Prefectural Government disciplined 13 prefectural officers over a false determination that meat products contained the bacteria E. coli O-157, prefectural officials said Monday.
Ryoji Shima, head of the Kawagoe Public Health Center, was suspended for two months for failing to adequately supervise the official who made the false determination, which led to a product recall order being issued to two processed meat manufacturers.
The manufacturers suffered an estimated 1 million yen in damages when they withdrew about 3,000 ham and sausage products.
The official who checked the products for O-157 will have his salary cut by 10 percent for six months.
The prefectural government also cut the salaries of his immediate supervisor and two higher officials by 10 percent for three months.
The prefectural government believes that some of the manufacturers' samples of ham and sausage were contaminated with the O-157 strain of E. coli when a container containing the deadly bacterium was opened near the samples. It is likely that some germs may have contaminated the samples, they said.
Saitama Gov. Yoshihiko Tsuchiya told reporters after the announcement of disciplinary action that the local government believes the harsh reprimands were suitable.
"We should restore public trust in administration over food safety," he said.