Calbee Foods Co. started recalling 62,000 bags of potato chips and suspended operations at its affiliate's factory Saturday after a customer reported finding a dead lizard in the company's product, the major confectionery maker said.
A woman in Chofu, western Tokyo, discovered the 15-cm-long lizard after opening a bag of Aji Potato Garlic Butter chips Wednesday, the company said.
The woman informed both Calbee Foods and the health ministry's local public office of the finding.
Lizard excrement was also found in the package, which suggests the lizard may have survived for some time inside the bag.
The product in question was made and packaged at a Calbee unit factory in Higashi-Matsuyama, Saitama Prefecture.
Calbee President Masahiko Matsuo apologized at a news conference Saturday for "causing discomfort among our customers who have trusted our company."
He pledged to investigate how the lizard got into the bag. Calbee officials said they have found a gap in the conveyer belt unit running from the production section of the plant to its distribution section.
The potato chips in question were manufactured July 11 at the Saitama plant and 62,000 bags from the same production run have so far been shipped to Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Yamanashi prefectures, according to Calbee.
Although other types of potato chips are produced at the plant, Calbee is recalling only the garlic butter-flavored products as production lines are cleaned when a different product is made, company officials said.