Firm Sold Out-of-Date Food as It Was 'Tasty'

　　Fine wines and cheese may improve with age, but Japanese consumers were probably shocked to find that one company executive thought Chinese spring rolls did too. That, at least, is what Reiko Yoshida, head of a small food firm in western Japan, told a news conference when asked to explain why her company sold frozen spring rolls and other products that were well past their sell-by date1. "I was told that the products were past their expiry date, but I gave the order to sell them after I tried them and found them tasty," a spokesman for the company, Shinsho, quoted Yoshida as telling a news conference. The company sold about 2,600 frozen spring rolls to stores even though some were nearly six months past their expiry date, the spokesman said. Yoshida accepted now that the company should have thrown the food away after the sell-by date passed and that it would take care from now on. The firm has voluntarily halted business in 21 of its 23 shops around the country for an indefinite period of time. Japanese consumer confidence in food products has been shaken by several recent scandals, include cases of mislabeling.

　　美酒和干酪也許是越陳越好，不過日本的消費者可能會震驚于這樣的事實：一位公司主管認為這一規律也適用于中國春卷。至少，日本西部一個小食品公司的主管吉田玲子(音)在記者招待會上是這么說的，當時人們要求她解釋為何她的公司要出售已過期很久的凍春卷和其他產品。公司發言人新勝(音)引用吉田在記者招待會上的話說：“別人告訴我這些產品已經過了保質期，但我還是下令出售，因為我嘗過了，味道很好。”這位發言人說，公司賣了大約2600個凍春卷給各家商店，盡管其中一些已經過期將近半年。吉田現在承認公司應該扔掉過期食品，表示以后會對此多加注意。公司并主動無限期關閉了全國23個連鎖店中的21個。日本近日發生了幾起這樣的丑聞，包括亂貼標簽的事情，日本消費者對食品的信心因此大受影響。

　　Remarks：臭豬頭自然有爛鼻子的菩薩愛吃，對過期食品的個人愛好無可非議，但不管別人是否有此同好而強行推己及人的做法就有點過分了。