Meiji ignored tipoffs on cesium in baby formula

[kristopher]

Kyodo

Meiji Co. was tipped off on three separate occasions in mid-November that its milk formula may be contaminated with radioactive cesium, but ignored the information for about two weeks, sources said.

The major food maker only looked into the matter after it was approached by Kyodo News and a citizens' group earlier this month, the sources said.

Meiji said it had initially concluded that "further investigation was unnecessary" because one of the tipoffs was made by an anonymous caller and the other two, from concerned consumers, cited Internet information the company was unable to confirm.

Meiji subsequently found up to 30.8 becquerels per kilogram in its Meiji Step milk powder.

"We would ...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111210x1.html

[freshwest]

1. What's good is that the citizen group was allowed in, here they'd be shooed away from business.

I'm hoping Obama uses the recess appointment power to get a good head of consumer affairs in office. These are dangerous times when:

“The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the
people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it
becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its
essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt, "Message from the President of the United States Transmitting Recommendations Relative to the Strengthening and Enforcement of Anti-trust Laws"

These companies would get away with this here because we've been so brainwashed that we think we need these robber barons to survive. Kudos to the Japanese who insist that their human rights outweigh those of the corporations.

[johnb72341js]

2. +1