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Though Delicious, Japanese Candy May Kill You

The Japanese tradition of bringing sweets when visiting a friend's home may now be akin to bringing a roast you picked up at the local Food Lion to a BBQ in the United States' South. We've learned to fear meat and anything that comes near it in this era of mad cow disease, Salmonella poisoning and Montezuma's revenge. But now we have to worry about candy? Say it isn't so.

Just in time for Halloween, The New York Times revealed Wednesday that Japan's leading confectioner, Akafuku lied about the contents of its products, tampered with expiration dates and recycled ingredients. The revelation follows news that two other leading candy makers, Shiroi Koibito and Fujiya, also sold faulty products.

Not to be outdone, the country's meat industry is working overtime to deceive customers. Executives at a meatpacking company called Meat Hope were arrested for labeling ground pork, chicken and even rabbit as beef. Around the same time, the Septegenerian president of a poultry company admitted to mislabeling his chicken products after he returned from the mountains following a failed suicide attempt.

Part of the joy of traveling is sampling the local cuisine and, of course, the local junk food. But the next time we visit Japan, we're sticking to the congealed Clif Bars in the bottom of our backpacks.

Related Stories:
· An Epidemic Of Bad Food In Japan [NYT]
· Japan Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: The Mrs. Kennedy]