Food inspectors and consumers on Thursday questioned the effectiveness of food importing regulations after large amounts of organophosphate in frozen "gyoza" dumplings made in China were blamed for sickening scores of people nationwide.
The health ministry meanwhile admitted that although frozen imported food is generally inspected for harmful or unauthorized ingredients, it is not checked for pesticides like the one that was found in the tainted meat and vegetable dumplings.
A spokesman for Japan Frozen Foods Inspection Corp., a government-designated food inspector, said it was the first time Japan has experienced a food-poisoning case of this type.