Asia-Pacific

Death toll in Japan's food poisoning reaches four

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-05 13:06

TOKYO - The death toll in a string of food poisoning cases at a Japanese barbecue restaurant chain has risen to four after a woman died Thursday, local media reported.

The woman, 70, was hospitalized for food poisoning and fell into a serious condition after eating a raw meat dish at an outlet of the Yakiniku-zakaya Ebisu chain in Tonami, Toyama Prefecture, on April 23, according to Kyodo News.

She was a family member of another woman in her 40s who dined with her and died Wednesday.

In addition to the two women, two boys in Toyama and Fukui prefectures also died in April in the food poisoning cases involving the restaurant chain operator, Foods Forus Co., based in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture.

The restaurant chain has admitted that it had failed for the last two years to conduct hygiene inspections of raw meat supplied for the dish by a Tokyo-based wholesaler. ?

Around 30 people have been hospitalized in the food poisoning outbreak, with about 20 in a serious condition. Enterohemorrhagic E. coli bacteria including the O-111 and O-157 strains have been detected in many of the cases.