On Friday, 7-Eleven issued a recall of its Pickled Plum Shiso, Sesame rice balls in Saitama Prefecture after two customers found cockroaches inside them.
According to news reports, the recall was announced after the company received separate complaints from two customers who had purchased the same variety of rice ball from the same store in Saitama Prefecture on Friday morning.
In both cases, a cockroach was said to have been found inside the packaging film. Thankfully, both customers noticed the insect before eating the rice balls.
After confirming the contamination complaints, 7-Eleven issued a recall of all its Pickled Plum Shiso, Sesame rice balls sold at its stores in Saitama Prefecture with a best-before date of 9 p.m. on August 4. This amounted to around 2,000 rice balls sold at roughly 370 stores.
▼ News report of the recall
7-Eleven says it believes the contamination occurred where the rice balls were manufactured, at the Warabeya Nichiyo Foods Omiya Factory in Saitama City. The factory stopped the production line for cleaning and sterilization following the incident.
7-Eleven issued an apology on 4 August, which read:
“Thank you very much for your continued patronage of 7-Eleven.
We received a report from customers that a cockroach had been found in our Pickled Plum Shiso, Sesame rice balls sold at a 7-Eleven in Saitama Prefecture.
This line of rice balls, manufactured at a factory, have already been removed from stores, but to be absolutely safe we are issuing a voluntary recall. Therefore, if you have an applicable product, please send it to the shipping address provided by cash on delivery.
We have reported this matter to the local public health centre. In addition, regarding the related factory, after stopping the production line, cleaning and sterilization was conducted, as well as an emergency inspection and fumigation treatment by an insect extermination company.
We sincerely apologize for the extreme trouble and inconvenience caused to our customers. In future, we will strengthen and enforce thorough quality control and strive to prevent a recurrence.”
If you were one of the possibly hundreds of people who purchased one of these rice balls in Saitama Prefecture, you can return it to the address mentioned in 7-Eleven’s official notice linked below.
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- Which Japanese convenience store has the best plain onigiri rice balls?
-- Saitama man robs 7-Eleven with knives, steals 3 onigiri
-- 7-Eleven to build 7-Eleven in parking lot of another 7-Eleven
- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2023/08/05/7-eleven-apologises-for-cockroaches-in-onigiri-rice-balls/
28 Comments
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deanzaZZR
Oh, no! Umeboshi and tsukemono are my go to's as well.
Mark
Oops, the heat brings all kind of creepy creatures out of their holes .
dagon
I would argue that if Japan had a litigious culture like in the US, where this would mean a big payout from the corporation for a lucky consumer, it would be better for the socio-economic culture.
Corporate negligence and criminality is forgotten with a bow, and companies continue with the same practices and executives never receive a comeuppance.
If courts would assign large settlements for such negligence it would also be a type of wealth redistribution.
Yeah right.
602miko
The factory staff Will suffer for this I'm sure they blame them all
Paul
That's disgusting!!!!! Gave me the shivers just reading the headline!!!!!
Euro Dude
The customers should have sued the 7/11 for big money, otherwise nothing will improve.
Is pathetic how can any crime here can be solved with a fake baw.
Tony Kaku
One would think in this day and age that some kind of compensation would be part and part of any recall of food. There are probably customers who didn't notice and ate their Pickled Plum Shiso onigiri, as well as those that hadn't eaten it as yet. The company's generic corporate apology is like a fart in the wind, and make no mistake, they will be squeezing the factory's owners 'onigiri balls' behind the scenes and securing much better trading terms and prices for the foreseeable future. The manager will probably get a pay cut and possibly be sat by a window for a few months to consider the damage they have caused.
Rodney
As a vegetarian, eating insects is OK. For example, honey is bee sperm, but we all eat it.
wolfshine
Summertime Japan truly is nightmare fuel. Honestly I barely eat Combini rice balls at this point. When you first move to Japan, it seems like this amazing, always immediately accessible delicacy, but over time, the allure wears off, and you cringe at the thought of eating another one. It's better to support local vendors anyway. Handmade onigiri is always the best way to go.
Though all that being said, when the WEF and that decrepit Klaus Schwab eventually get their way, we will probably be eating insects anyway.
Ricky Kaminski13
You simply don't get any worse public relations disasters than that. This will hit the brand 7/11 real hard.
buffalo
as my father would always say "extra protein"
garypen
The manufacturing facilities these conbinis use for this kind of stuff is often shown on TV here on those shows that intro new products. They always look pristine. Shiny stainless steel, and workers wearing full PPP.
I assume they only show the best facilities, probably company-owned. But, I also assume that there are numerous contracted facilities around the country with various levels of hygiene that they would never show on TV.
This Warabeya Nichiyo Foods Omiya Factory in Saitama City is obviously one of the latter.
wanderlust
The only thing worse than finding a cockroach in your onigiri, is finding half of one after taking a bite!
wallace
Disease-producing organisms such as bacteria, protozoa, and viruses have been found in cockroach bodies. Different forms of gastroenteritis (food poisoning, dysentery, diarrhea, etc.) appear to be the principal diseases transmitted by cockroaches.
wtfjapan
Gokiburi onigiri, new 7/11 summer campaign
Kaowaiinekochanknaw
Excellent news.
There should be more bugs added to onigiri, bread and any kind of meat pattie to curb C02s.
There is a climate crisis looming in the other article today.
Does no one care about the children?
Hercolobus
That would cause me trauma.
walking back home from an outing with my Japanese friend in Fussa City, I saw a B-52 Cockroach crawling over the sidewalk after coming out of the sewer.
I used to see them inside base housing sewer systems but not off-base. The base never took action.
more roaches mean more sales of bug sprays. $$$
mountainpear
Could be sabotage by a disgruntled employee! Wouldn't be the first time!
Speed
Saitama. If it ain't crime, it's cockroaches.
garypen
Always? Did this happen a lot for your family, finding roaches in your food?
wallace
People are eating insects every day without realising it. Some from grain harvest and vegetables but also in processed foods insects are sometimes added. But there are healthy insects and unhealthy ones.
WA4TKG
That's what you get for buying a glob of rice for Y200 that's worth Y .05 at home.
Some old work mate in the States proclaimed they NEVER go out to eat, you never know what people
are doing to your food...."Food for Thought".
"Stay Home; Save Lives"...you may save your OWN.
Based
Cockroaches in the onigiri?
That should "bug" everyone.
elephant200
Someone's tasteless planking ?
itsonlyrocknroll
Oh please the cockroach hitch hiking onigiri rice ball wasn't still compos mentis?
Cockroaches are difficult to exterminate.
Resistant to a huge amounts of radiation and fast on their feet.
I am having waking nightmares of onigiri rice balls attempting some form of Hokey Cokey on or around the display shelving, or playing hide and seek in the shopping basket..
garypen
Ummm. No. Where did you get such a ridiculous idea? It's bee vomit, not sperm.
starpunk
Yeeeccchhh. Enough to keep me away from that store for good.
Scythd
Suddenly I can't finish my breakfast. Would there be? Wouldn't?