Shareholders of Japan Tobacco Inc. peppered management with questions Tuesday over the food-poisoning scandal involving pesticide-tainted frozen "gyoza" dumplings made in China.
At the beginning of the shareholders' meeting at a Tokyo hotel, President Hiroshi Kimura apologized to the victims and the public. Board members also stood up with Kimura and deeply bowed.
Kimura said JT's food products division saw a 90.1 percent plunge in operating profit to ¥600 million in business 2007, which ended in March, because of the food poisonings.