“Contaminated” dumplings were probably deliberately poisoned


Here come triple-bagged snacks.


Pesticide-laced Chinese dumplings that sickened at least 10 people in Japan and triggered a nationwide scare were probably poisoned deliberately, said Japan’s health minister.

The frozen dumplings, produced by China’s Tianyang Food Processing Ltd., were contaminated with the pesticide methamidophos and blamed for a string of poisonings in December and January.

Investigators, however, have found traces of the pesticide on the outside of the dumplings, rather than on the filling. The poison was also found in much higher concentrations than would be expected from residue from pesticides sprayed on vegetables…

About 20 top police investigators from the areas where the poisonings took place gathered in Tokyo on Tuesday to discuss the dumpling probe, and police in the two prefectures Chiba and Hyogo — the home of the 10 victims — are now looking into the dumpling contamination as an attempted murder case…

Punctures were found in a handful of the bags that were recalled or tied to poisonings…

The profit motive comes first to mind. Could have been spun for extortion like the Tylenol case in the USA, decades back.

Could have been an old-fashioned nutball. They never caught the poisoner in the Tylenol case.

Posted: Thu - February 7, 2008 at 06:55 AM