The president and several key executives of troubled Japanese dairy company Snow Brand Milk Products are to be charged with professional negligence following the mass food poisoning outbreak in Western Japan this June and July.
The charges, brought by the Osaka police, are expected to be filed in November, and are also presumed to include action against the company manager at the Snow Brand plant where the infected products originated. Company president, Tetsuro Ishikawa, actually resigned from his position on 6 July.
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Nearly 15,000 consumers fell ill this summer when the bacteria Enterotoxin contaminated powdered skimmed milk produced at a plant in Taiki and which was used as the basis for four other dairy products at an Osaka plant. The main allegation to be made is that while the company received the first complaint of illness on 27 June, and officials demanded the cessation of production on the 28 June, it was not until the evening of the 29th that the public was warned against consuming the products, by which time 200 people were ill.
