January 17, 2012

Japan supermarkets to label seafood origin

In an effort to reassure customers about food safety, more Japanese supermarkets are labelling seafood with where it was caught.

Inageya Co. will start Monday at all 127 of its greater-Tokyo-area stores. It will label fish and other seafood caught in areas designated by the Fisheries Agency last October. The list is likely to consist of about 10 varieties, including Pacific saury, jack mackerel and shellfish, depending on the day's catch.

The agency called on the seafood industry to label products from the Pacific Ocean north of Chiba Prefecture.

Seiyu GK began labelling some seafood with place of origin last Friday and will do the same at 170 stores in the Kanto and Tohoku areas this month. It will also put up signboards showing where the seafood on sale was caught.

Aeon Co., Ito-Yokado Co. and Ibaraki Prefecture-based Kasumi Co. began origin labelling for seafood last year.