A Japanese convenience store chain has suspended the sale of rice balls or onigiri and other deli items at 1,600 stores after it found that their expiry dates were faked.
Staff at some stores extended expiry dates by not sticking labels on the dishes until an hour or two after they had been prepared, while others relabelled the items with false dates after they have been put on sale, Ministop had found.
The misconduct was reported at 23 stores across the country, including in major cities like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.
The chain has paused onigiri sales at most of its outlets since 9 August, and on Monday extended the pause to other deli items, for an "emergency investigation".
"We sincerely apologise for the significant inconvenience caused to our customers who have supported Ministop's handmade onigiri and handmade bento boxes," the company said in a statement on Monday.
