Ogori Cafe located in Kashiwa, a very nice town in Chiba is a restaurant with a twist.
You order and pay.
You receive what the customer in front of you ordered.
Your order is given to the customer following you.
Ordering at Cafe Ogori
Your order will be a complete surprise because you have no idea what the person in front of you order. Likewise the person to follow you has no idea what you order.
Sign Cafe Ogori
You might spend $30 on your meal but only get a coffee!
Or the person behind you might want a glass of orange juice but receives your hamburger and fry’s.
I recently read an article in Time magazine concerning one of my favorite dishes, Toro Sahimi (Tuna).
I love Toro Sashimi and every time I have the opportunity, I indulge myself with more than one piece of this Japanese culinary delicacy. There are however a few things I didn’t consider when savoring my delicious chunk of fatty tuna.
Most of the tuna that we eat in the Bay Area comes from the port town of General Santos City in Southern Philippines, one of the world’s great tuna-fishing ports. The best tuna will sell for about $700 wholesale. After being cleaned and put in dry ice it takes the 10.30 a.m. flight to Manila. The next day, the fish will be in Tokyo, Seattle of California.
So think about the Carbon footprint my nice and delicious little piece of sushi left behind. And it doesn’t end here, in September the European Commission recommended that the European Union support a temporary suspension of the global trade of Atlantic Bluefin tune. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates that Alantic Bluefin that spawn in the Mediterranean could disappear from those waters as early as 2012. As you might have guessed the ban was shot down by E.U. members with high stakes in the tuna trade.
Scientists believe stocks of southern bluefin around Australia have probably fallen more than 90% since 1950 and could continue to drop.
In order words the amount of tuna we are consuming worldwide is not sustainable and the consequences of not having tuna in our oceans could be disastrous for the ocean ecosystem and probably many economies.
So next time I go for sushi I might choose an alternative dish, probably Corn Sushi. With nice supersweet corn grown in the Northwest of the USA.
We can make a difference, one mouth at the time… Leave some of that delicious tuna to your great-grandchildren.
MAFF, the Japanese Ministry of Forestry, and Fishery, worried about Japan food imports and recent changes in diet that have caused numerous health problems is pushing for local production and becoming less reliant on imports.
I found the following poll conducted by the Japan Youth Research Institute very intriguing. The poll indicates the following percent check for food safety:
Chinese 41.6 percent
South Koreans 19.9 percent
Americans 17.5 percent
Japanese 13.0 percent
My question is how do they check for food safety? I have never seen a sticker or other marking indicating the food is safe. Or does it mean that some societies just expect the food to be safe and there is no need to check for food safety. In Noon International dealings with frozen food exports we find that the Japanese border on fanaticism when it comes to food safety, why the disparity with the poll? Perhaps because we at Noon are not dealing with the end user.
The survey also asked if they bought food based on the health benefits, such as organic food. Again the results are interesting:
Chinese 75.6 percent answered yes.
Japanese 34.2 percent answered yes.
I know that through the centuries the Chinese have been conscious of health benefits. If you have ever been entertained by the Chinese, then you know how they will always tell you this food is good for such and such and this is good for that. So their response is normal. However seeing the Japanese response of only 34.2 percent seems strange. They always seem to go overboard if there are certain benefits derived from a food. If you tell them broccoli is good for cancer then they all run to the stores to buy broccoli. Fanatical.
What does it all mean?? It is just one of those mysteries.
Japan Gyoza saga continues, were they tampered with? by whom? Chinese? Japanese?
Yu Xinmin of the Ministry of Public Health says there is little chance that the methamidaphos was put into the product in China. Chinese officials are now leaning toward the conclusion that the gyoza was tampered with, but where? In a normal export transaction the product would be packaged in its final presentation, in this case at Tianyuan Foods, and then stuffed into a reefer container, doors closed and sealed. The seal would not be broken again until it arrives at its final destination, in this case Japan. Thus if the normal protocol was followed it would lead one to believe that the product must have been contaminated in Japan.
Japanese authorities have a different view or conclusion. After testing the methamidophos in Japan they say it is of inferior quality and not pure, therefore it is not from Japan. If the methamidophos is not of Japanese origin then from where? It appears to be a vicious circle with nothing concrete to draw a conclusion.
Of noted interest is that China in 2007, before the incident of the Gyoza, had made a decision to ban the use of methamidophos in agriculture production, manufacturing and transporting of the pesticide. This took effect January 1, 2008. This is good news for us exporters because methamidophos has been a problem in Asia for years (although it is allowed on broccoli and cauliflower in the USA). The question remains which pesticide the farmers will use in lieu of methamidophos, will it be legal in the USA or Japan or …
(Each country has their own list of acceptable pesticides and tolerances.)
Senior Chinese officials have visited China this week to pledge that food safety is a prime concern to China and that the incident will be seriously investigated. Despite this and other announcements from Senior and Non-Senior officials in China consumers are not quite convinced. Daiei Inc., one of Japan’s major supermarket chains, stated that the sales of frozen food, mainly of Chinese origin, have dropped at least 30% compared to last year since the news of the poisoned dumplings emerged last week. On the other hand sales of produce used to make dumplings went up.
Ito Yokado, another supermarket operator, set up special areas inside its stores selling produce used to make your own dumplings.
Both China and Japan will have to handle this with extreme care since China is the second biggest supplier of food into Japan after the USA.
Here is a new twist on the pesticide contaminated Gyoza in Japan. The Mainichi Daily News is reporting that a small hole was found in the packaging suggesting that the product was tampered with. What is not clear is where the hole was made in China during production (which is common to release air) or during distribution in China.
The numbers keep rising. Now over 400 people have been impacted by the pesticide tainted Gyoza. As expected several of the Japanese food shops are pulling all Chinese food items off the shelf (rather be safe then sorry). Consumer groups are now forming and asking questions that concern food safety and the food they eat. And still no news from China.
The tainted Chinese dumplings (from Tianyang Foods in Hebei province) imported by JT (Japan Tobacco) saga continues. Now more than 70 people have complained of symptoms from the metamidophos contaminated Gyoza dumplings.
China thus far still remains silent although I have read that two samples of the product were tested by Chinese authorities and found to be negative.
The recall has spread as Ajinomoto the largest food company in the World is taking proactive measures and recalling some Korean style products including fried rice that it sells in Japan from the same facility, Tianyang Foods.
Things of interest:
I read in Chinareview that it was not clear if the Gyoza dumplings were contaminated in China or Japan? I myself find this hard to understand, if the product is produced in China, made in China and packaged in China then how could it be contaminated in Japan?
I read in Japan News Review that in the U.S. if methamidophos is used commercially it must be labeled as Danger-Poison. Again I really don’t understand this because this particular pesticide is used for many vegetables including broccoli and cauliflower and has a tolerance of 1PPM (parts per million), which is established by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), yet I have never seen any product being sold in the supermarket as poisonous.
China’s “Baidu” their equivalent of Google doesn’t come up with any results when you search for “Japan Tobacco food” or “JT food”, is this being controlled by the China government?
JT Foods a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco has imported Frozen Gyoza (Pot Stickers) contaminated with an organophosphate insecticide methamidophos. As of today at least 10 people have been sickened with one 5 year child slipping into a coma.
The frozen Gyoza was produced by the Chinese manufacture Hebei Foodstuffs Import & Export Group Tianyang Food Processing. Thus far little information is coming out of Beijing in light of the recent 4 month food safety campaign that was proclaimed to be a total success.
JT Foods is in the process of recalling 13 tons of the contaminated dumplings voluntarily. In addition they will be recalling 22 other items also produced by the same manufacture.
Questions to ponder:
How could this happen if all the product is being inspected by the Chinese CIQ?
How could this pass through Japanese customs?
Will the Japanese government impose new controls on imported foodstuffs from China?
Will the Japanese consumers revolt and stop buying Chinese imported foodstuffs?
How will this incidence restore confidence in Chinese foodstuffs?
Company Profile Of Chinese Manufacture:
Company Name: QINHUANGDAO TIANYANG INDUSTRIAL COMPANY
Primary Business Type:Manufacture Trader
Number of Employees:162
Registered Catipal(RMB):3.14 million
Parent Company:HEBEI FOODSTUFFS IMPORT AND EXPORT (GROUP) CORP.
Company Introduction:
QINHUANGDAO TIANYANG INDUSTRIAL COMPANY is located in the center of Qinhuangdao Foreign Trade Zone, covering an area of 60054.14 square meters, with fixed assets of 42 million Yuan. It is a comprehensive import and export corporation integrating purchase, storage, food processing and trade, with independent imports and exports right. With Chinese chestnut product, canned food and quick frozen food as its main industry, the annual export revenue in foreign exchange reached 10 million dollars. In 2001, it passed ISO9001：2000 quality management system certification，HACCP management system is also in operation.
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