A false-origin labeling scandal has halted sales of Kumamoto Prefecture clams.
Japanese TV network Tokyo Broadcasting Station aired an investigative report on 22 January showing containers of chilled clams being shipped to the port of Shimonseki, trucked to Kagoshima, reloaded to smaller flatbed trucks, carried to the clamming area, then dumped and spread out. Then a clam combine was operated to pick up, wash, and bag the clams in new mesh bags. These were then loaded to large refrigerated trucks to be carried to customers as products of Kagoshima. Allegedly, the scheme had been ongoing for several years.
The president of a seafood company involved in the trade said in the TV report that nearly 100 percent of imported clams are routed through Kumamoto in this way. The reason for the ruse is that it is difficult to sell imported clams, with supermarket buyers and consumers showing a clear preference for the domestic product.
On 31 January, at the beginning of a meeting to discuss how to protect the clam brand, Kumamoto Prefecture Governor Ikuo Kabashima requested that the prefectural fisheries federation suspend shipment of live manila clams for two months beginning 8 February.
At a news conference on the next day, 1 February, the governor also said local sales of Kumamoto clams would be halted starting 11 February. A hotline number was also opened to solicit further information on any inappropriate corporate behavior.
Japan's food labeling law stipulates that "when a marine product is grown in two or more places, the place with the longest farming period is labeled as the place of origin," but the governor said it has been difficult to determine the age of clams by their size and asked the government to review the rule.
Imports of manila clams (asari in Japanese) are now about nine times Japan’s domestic production, which has steadily declined from 130,000 metric tons in 1995 to only 4,400 MT in 2020. Japan's clam imports come primarily from China and South Korea. North Korea used to be a major supplier, but the trade was suspended as part of economic sanctions in 2007.
Japan Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Genjiro Kaneko said his ministry had performed a survey of 1,000 stores over three months beginning in October 2021, finding high levels of fraud, with Chinese clams frequently sold fraudulently as Kumamoto clams.
“When we purchased Kumamoto clams for sale and performed DNA analysis, we found that for 30 out of 31 Kumamoto clams, 97 percent, there was a high possibility that foreign clams were mixed in,” Kaneko said. “It was determined that most of the clams produced in Kumamoto Prefecture are likely to be contaminated with foreign clams."
Photo by Chris Loew/SeafoodSource
