“We deeply apologize”: rat remains were found in sandwich bread from a famous brand in Japan

Bad advertising that this Japanese giant could do without. Pasco, one of Japan’s largest bakery companies, was forced to recall tens of thousands of packages of sliced ​​sandwich bread after the remains of a black rat were found in at least two of the packages, CNN reports.

In total, some 104,000 packages of this staple staple for many Japanese families had to be removed from shelves, and a form was created on Pasco’s website to allow affected customers to request a refund online.

No cases have been reported so far, Pascoe said in a statement earlier this week. “We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers, business partners and all parties involved,” said the company, which has the third-largest market share in Japan’s baking industry.

Pascoe said he was currently investigating how parts of the “small animal” could have ended up in two packages of sandwich bread and vowed to “do everything we can to strengthen our quality control to ensure this doesn’t happen again.” The affected packaging was produced at a plant in Tokyo, whose assembly line has already been stopped.

Some alarming reviews in Japan

While Pasco products are exported to the United States, Canada, China, Australia and Singapore, the recalled product is not sold overseas, the company told CNN.

Typically in Japan, a country known for its high health standards, food reviews are rare. However, some products have recently been the subject of recalls in the country. In late April, about 600 students in northeastern Miyagi prefecture fell ill after drinking milk provided by their schools.

In March, drug maker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical ordered the recall of three dietary supplements intended to lower cholesterol levels after several deaths potentially linked to products containing red yeast rice and more than a hundred hospitalizations. Last year, 7-Eleven had to recall some of its products after a cockroach was found in a rice ball.