TOKYO, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- More than 1,000 people across Japan were made ill by tainted frozen food produced by a division of the country's largest seafood company, officials said.
Police said they suspected the pesticide malathion may have been deliberately injected into the products, Jiji Press reported.
These people complained of fever, dizziness, stomach aches, vomiting and diarrhea after eating frozen foods made by Aqli Foods Corp., a unit of Maruha Nichiro Holdings Inc., at a plant in Oizumi in Gunma prefecture in eastern Japan.
So far, no deaths have been reported.
Food-poisoning symptoms were reported in 46 of the country's 47 prefectures, with Nagasaki prefecture the exception.
Gunma prefecture police, who raided the Aqli Foods plant Saturday, said they suspect someone deliberately poisoned the company's frozen foods after they were produced with the organic phosphate malathion, a common pesticide, Kyodo News reported.
"We're looking into every possibility in our investigation," a Gunma police spokesman said.
Consumer reports of foul odors in its products prompted Aqli Foods to launch an investigation, Kyodo News said. The company said it detected malathion in nine frozen food products, including pizzas, croquettes and fried chicken.
Of the 6.4 million food products that were subject to recalls issued Dec. 29, when Aqli Foods revealed the discovery of the pesticide, the firm had recovered just more than 1.1 million products by Saturday, Kyodo said.
