英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Expired meat scandal in China a betrayal of Japan’s safety efforts
中国期限切れ肉　外資企業にも及んだ背信行為

Yet again, a problem that greatly damages the trustworthiness of Chinese-made food products has been exposed. This is a matter of enormous concern.
　中国製食品の信頼性を著しく損なう事件が、またも起こった。ゆゆしき事態である。

Shanghai Husi Food Co., a Shanghai-based subsidiary of a major U.S. food processing company, was revealed to have shipped meat products that had passed their expiration dates.
　中国・上海にある米食品加工大手の子会社「上海福喜食品」が、品質保持期限を過ぎた肉製品を出荷していたことが発覚した。

As a result, McDonald’s Co. (Japan) and leading convenience store chain FamilyMart Co., both of which had imported chicken meat from Husi Food, have been forced to suspend sales of some of their products.
　この会社から鶏肉製品を輸入していた日本マクドナルドとファミリーマートが、一部商品の販売中止に追い込まれた。

Chinese police authorities have concluded that the selling of meat past its sell-by date was the result of illegal production led by Husi Food’s management. They detained five people, including the factory’s quality manager. The full scope of the situation must be elucidated promptly.
　中国当局は、上海福喜食品による組織的な違法生産と断定し、工場責任者ら５人を拘束した。実態解明を急いでもらいたい。

According to the Chinese TV reports that revealed the meat shipping irregularities, the Husi Food factory repackaged meat products that had been returned unsold by turning them into ground meat. The chicken meat, which investigators said required frozen storage, was handled in a warehouse at room temperature.
　問題を暴露した中国のテレビ報道によると、工場では、返品された商品をミンチにして再利用していた。冷凍保存が必要な鶏肉は、常温の倉庫に置かれていた。

Regarding the mixing of out-of-date meat into ordinary ground meat, one factory employee was quoted as making the remarkable assertion, “People won’t die from consuming expired foods.” That sentiment is emblematic of the many words and deeds pointing to the total moral failure at food-processing facilities, where the safety of consumers should have been the absolute top priority.
　従業員は、期限切れの肉を混ぜることについて、「食べても死なない」と言い放った。消費者の安全を最優先すべき食品製造現場のモラル崩壊を象徴する言動だ。

In a 2008 incident in China, baby formula was tainted with a toxic chemical, affecting the health of about 300,000 babies and toddlers. There has been a seemingly uninterrupted stream of food-related problems in China, including the revelation last year of the distribution of rice contaminated with cadmium.
　中国では２００８年、粉ミルクに有害物質が混入し、乳幼児約３０万人に健康被害が出た。昨年にはカドミウム汚染米の流通が発覚するなど、問題が後を絶たない。

The tendency to disregard consumers’ health and put profits ahead of all else is likely behind this succession of problems.
　金儲もうけを優先し、消費者の健康を軽視する風潮が背景にあるのは間違いあるまい。

Dependence on China foods

The Chinese public is extremely dissatisfied with this state of affairs, in which the need for safe food receives little scrutiny. The leadership of the Chinese Communist Party administration, eager to ensure the stability of society, may have found it necessary to hurriedly launch law enforcement investigations into the latest food scandal, aiming to demonstrate the government’s intent to clamp down rigorously on such wrongdoing.
　食の安全がおろそかにされている現状に対し、中国国民の不満は強い。社会の安定に腐心する共産党政権は、不正に厳しく対処する姿勢を示すため、素早く強制捜査に乗り出したのだろう。

What cannot be ignored in the Husi Food case is that the illegal production occurred at the factory of a foreign-capitalized company−one generally believed to operate in a relatively safe manner compared to Chinese-run firms.
　看過できないのは、比較的安全とされた外資企業で違法生産が行われていたことである。

A deliberate poisoning incident in 2008, in which an employee at a Chinese food firm laced frozen gyoza dumplings with pesticide, spurred food processing companies affiliated with Japanese food firms and trading houses to redouble their efforts to enforce strong quality control and ensure the maintenance of a high standard of food safety. In recent years, food imports to Japan from China have been steadily growing.
　従業員が殺虫剤を混入させた０８年の中国製冷凍ギョーザ中毒事件を契機に、日系のメーカーや商社は品質管理に一層努め、安全水準を維持してきた。中国からの食品輸入額も回復しつつある。

This incident at Husi Food is an unmistakable betrayal of the work of many on the Japanese side and throws cold water on their food quality crusade.
　今回の事件は、日本側のこうした取り組みに冷や水を浴びせる背信行為と言わざるを得ない。

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has ordered the suspension of food imports from Shanghai Husi Food. Over the past year, Japan’s chicken meat imports from the company totaled 6,000 tons. Thorough probes must be conducted to determine whether the firm had previously shipped expired meat, to help alleviate customers’ anxiety.
　厚生労働省は、上海福喜食品からの輸入を差し止めた。過去１年間に輸入された鶏肉製品は６０００トンに上る。消費者の不安を軽減するため、期限切れのものがなかったか、徹底調査が必要だ。

The continued existence of Japan’s food industries relies on low-priced ingredients produced in China.
　日本の食産業は今や、中国産の安価な食材なしには成り立たない状況にある。

Companies importing Chinese goods must strengthen their inspection and supervision systems, working from the assumption that people should be deemed dishonest by nature when it comes to food processing in China. These companies may have to take such measures as arranging regular factory visits by officials from Japan for safety checks and installing security cameras in factories.
　輸入企業に求められるのは、中国側の生産工程では不正が起こり得るという性悪説に立った監督・検査体制の強化だ。防犯カメラの設置や、現地に出向いての定期的なチェックは欠かせまい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 25, 2014)