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COPYRIGHT 2006 Japan Times
Byline: Yumi Wijers-Hasegawa
Jul. 21--A one-time food-additives salesman and chemist is using his insider information to warn people about the dangers lurking in the prepared-food sections at supermarkets and convenience stores. "See this nice boxed meal? This one has 20 to 30" additives, Tsukasa Abe, 54, who once helped engineer cheaper, longer-lasting food, told an audience recently in Tokyo's Toshima Ward. "This 260 yen convenience store sandwich is worth a Nobel prize for its preservation technology."
Reiko Iino, 58, said she was shocked to hear Abe say in the May food safety seminar that convenience store "onigiri" rice balls not only have additives, but there may be up to 10 of them mixed in. They include the preservative glycin, flavoring agents, such as amino acids that give the rice a sweet taste, and emulsifiers to retain luster.
"Now I understand why you can still eat rice balls left in the summer heat for a few days," Iino said. "It's scary." In an interview after the seminar, Abe said, "Many Japanese blindly consume what's in a shop, without knowing some manufacturers don't even eat their own products. "People think it's OK because it's made...
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