Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Over 350 sickened by tainted food in Japan

My wife and I saw this story on the news last week.  A food manufacturer had to recall their products because they accidentally contaminated lot of it with pesticide. The article I'm linking here ends with a mention of last month's nationwide "fake food scandal," in which department stores and hotels had to apologize because the authorities caught them substituting cheaper dishes for the more expensive "real thing."  Both of these hit close to home because I used to live on the microwaveable pizzas the first company produces, and one of the hotels in the second scandal is right here in town and happens to be where our school holds its annual first-of-the-school-year teachers' party.

I haven't eaten a pesticide pizza, but there's a good chance I've eaten fake food.  And people here take these things seriously.  Well, obviously you have to take poisonings seriously.  My point is, whenever you talk about this particular hotel from now until civilization falls and the sun devours the earth, your conversation will include a reference to their wrongdoing.  It's now part of their brand, whether they like it or not.  I imagine some of those frozen meals will disappear from supermarkets or undergone some significant packaging changes.

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