Japan Arrests Factory Worker in Pesticide Poisoning Scandal

The worker is suspected of lacing pizza and chicken nuggets with a flea-killing chemical

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Jiji Press / AFP / Getty Images

Police investigators entering the factory of Japanese frozen foods company Aqli Foods, a subsidiary of Japanese food company Maruha Nichiro Holdings at Oizumi in Gunma prefecture, north of Tokyo to inspect plant facilities on January 4, 2014.

Japanese police have arrested a factory worker who stands accused of contaminating thousands of frozen food packages with pesticide.

The BBC reports that Toshiki Abe, 49, is charged with lacing pizza, chicken nuggets and other frozen foods with a flea-killing chemical normally used in farms and gardens.

More than 2,800 customers complained of symptoms ranging from stomach pain to vomiting and diarrhea. Maruha Nichiro Holdings recalled six million frozen food packages after the scandal broke in early January.

[BBC]