"To Avoid Waste" Expiration Dates Falsified for Two Years... Dozens of Ministop Stores in Japan Caught

Expiration Date Labels Falsified at 23 Ministop Stores Across 7 Regions in Japan
"Overlapping Labels to Avoid Waste," Says Store Owner
No Reported Harm; Ministop Apologizes and Vows Safer Products

This is a photo of a Ministop convenience store in Japan and is unrelated to the article content. Ministop

It has been revealed that some stores of the Ministop convenience store chain operating in Japan incorrectly labeled the expiration dates of their in-house prepared foods, such as triangular rice balls.

According to NHK Japan on August 20, cases have been confirmed at 23 stores across 7 prefectures where, after displaying triangular rice balls, lunch boxes, and side dishes prepared in-store, labels extending the expiration date were added, or labels were attached several hours after the products were made.

One store in Kawanishi City, Hyogo Prefecture, reportedly explained during a public health center investigation that "it seemed wasteful to discard the items, so we have been changing and reattaching the expiration date labels for about a year and a half to two years."

According to the local public health center, Ministop headquarters discovered violations of expiration date labeling at two stores-Kawanishi Nishitada and Mino Nichome-during a routine inspection at the end of June and reported this to the public health center.

As a result, the public health center conducted an on-site investigation on July 1, confirming that the store owner had re-labeled and re-displayed triangular rice balls nearing their expiration date, and that some employees had engaged in the same practice. The store owner reportedly stated, "I have been overlapping the labels because it seemed wasteful to discard the items."

The public health center has ordered the company to promptly implement measures to prevent recurrence.

The company stated that no reports of harm have been received so far. Ministop apologized, saying, "We sincerely apologize for causing significant concern to our customers," and added, "Both franchisees and headquarters will work to provide safer and more reliable products."