While I understand that over a thousand people have claimed to be ill due to food poisoning from gyoza (Chinese dumplings), I still think that a lot of them are attributing whatever ailments they have to the food scare because the news has frightened them into believing that it must be the cause.
The fact is, I can’t find any news reports stating an official number of more than ten food poisoning victims. Even if another thousand people did fall sick due to these dumplings, I’d be surprised if their sickness was serious enough to warrant the hysteria spread from the media to the general public.
Media hysteria scares Japanese off China-made food
I know of Japanese people that now refuse to eat any food made in China. Perhaps they should also stop eating Japanese food after last year’s domestic food scandals. The way I see it is, JT Foods distributed gyoza that had been poisoned with pesticides. Therefore, if you’re worried about your health, don’t eat gyoza distributed by JT Foods! Why should all the other companies and restaurants suffer? Have they poisoned their customers, too?
Food scandals boost TV ratings
Calm down people. This is how they sell newspapers and get higher TV ratings. To prove my point, here’s a video of me eating Chinese dumplings from a different distributor. If I fall sick, I’ll eat my words, but not until I’ve finished my gyoza!
If you can’t view the video, watch it here on YouTube.
If you like, you can find me on Twitter at @nick_ramsay. I'd love to hear from you!
Great post Nick! I think that you are correct about the media blowing this out of proportion and now people are catching the fever and blaming all of their illnesses on the dumplings.
I’m still keeping that “Made in China” kanji in my pocketbook though…but I don’t think it will affect my shopping habits as I am basically lazy.
Awesome. Love it. I salute you, sir!
Well Nick, I think you are wrong wrong wrong! I hurt my arm back in November surfing. I know for sure that it was due to Chinese made food because the night (or week can’t quite remember) before I had Chinese food and the Japanese surfer who hit me (Hope that monkey is reading this and if he is, I will be searching for him next time I hit the beach!!) must have known this. Therefore in honour of his country, made a direct kamikaze line for me.
Obviously this is proof that all things Chinese in this country at least, are bad for you and extremely dangerous for your health. My own father-in-law put me on to 2,000 yen for 1 case beer and had been drinking it for months until he realised it was made in Korea. He suddenly decided that it must have something evil in it and stopped drinking it.
I on the other hand am still lovingly drinking it to the cows come home and quite often take a few cans over to his place and believe it or not, he drinks it. Can’t quite figure that one out!!
Gyoza is probably responsible for my smoker’s cough, sore back, hayfever, aching legs (After jogging) lack of desire to have sex with my wife at 3:00am in the morning (Morning glory still works at around 9:00am!!) lack of motivation to go to work on Mondays (Actually everyday of the week!) baldness, excessive nasal hair, the dog bite that left a scar on my right middle finger 20 years ago and many more ailments that have left me be in a sorry state of affairs.
God why didn’t someone tell me about the horrors of gyoza at a much earlier stage in my life??? Shame on all of you!!
Keith
I don’t know what to comment on. Nick’s post, or Keith’s comment to it. Keith you have lost the plot and I salute you sir!
Mmmmm those gyoza sure look good Nick! I want to eat them too! Good point about the food scandals in Japan and how nobody is really bothered by that.
You know I kind of feel like China is the new Japan. Back in the eighties when car manufacturers from Japan were taking over the American market there was a ton of Japan bashing… Now that country is China. Congratulations China, everyone hates you!
Hi, Keith. Your comments are so Hilarious! 🙂
“You know I kind of feel like China is the new Japan. … Congratulations China, everyone hates you!” Thank you for let me know this! I love China!
And dear Nick, thank you for your awesome post and video!
I came to Tokyo without any hate or opinion on Japan and Japanese. I came here with respect. But during these three years I’ve bored enough! Thank god I’ll graduate next week and I’ll go home and never look back.
Next time you come to Shanghai, you’ll all be my guest!
Thank you!
Hey there, huangjs, that was my comment!!! Not Keith’s!!! I’m the funny one! Not Keith!!! If you think that comment was funny, go to MichaelMcKinlay.com
It’s even funnier! yahoo!!!
Hello Mike!
Ah yeah, the quote is from you 🙂 Thank you!
Best
That’s right huangjs! If you want more funny and less bummy, go to MichaelMcKinlay.com!
Nick
Allow me to ask one question. Would you rather have media over react on this issue or leave it alone until the problem becomes systemic and these kind of problems are no longer news worthy?
My brother-in-law works for the largest manufacturer of food addatives in Japan as a research engineer (food addatives being emulsifiers, Preservatives, Acidulants etc). It just so happens that they have two plants in China. They’ve been there for just under 5 years and having doubts about the viability of continuing… Tainted Gyoza is just the tip of the iceberg… Blatant use of chemicals and processes banned in most countries in the world and creation and use of product that would fail tests regularly is just the beginning. If the public know half of what they were consuming, there would be riots. The government will say little to nothing as these large corporations (such as the one that employs my brother-in-law) have invested large sums of cash (yay Amakudari!) to keep them quite. Remember Japan still that system of institutionalised “ignorance of conflict of interest”.
Your video reminds me of a propaganda film produced in the 50s where a U.S. congressman literally eats a chunk of radioactive waste to prove that it’s harmless. Apparently he died within the decade (I’ve gotta find a copy of that film).
All in the name of cash.
The media should have given it a five minute report, with a warning to avoid gyoza from JT Foods, period. It’s still getting hours of coverage each day, even long after the “outbreak”.
I’d rather live a life of ignorance than live one of fear. I’m sure most of what we eat is bad for us, but we’ve still got to eat something. Anyway, the gyoza I ate did not come from the scandal-hit JT Foods, and I don’t regret eating (and enjoying) it.
aaah, but you’re forgeting the purpose of the media.
“Make money by entertaining”
Where else on earth do ‘reputable’ NEWS stations edit in melodramatic music to their news reports and add deep voiced narrators. It all adds up to entertainment. It sure brings a lot of drama to those car accidents. I would imagine the same goes with Gyoza.
Japan is poking it’s finger in the Chinaman’s eye.
This goes a lot deeper than a news story. (the one we are seeing anyway)