By Taisuke Senoo

It is often said that Hokkaido's local industries such as Ishiya Co., Snow Brand Milk Products Co.,Ltd., FUJIYA Co.,LTD., and Meat Hope Co. have threatened the safety of our food. Recently, Ishiya, is a famous Hokkaido confectioner, has committed a series of scandals, starting from the falsification of expiration dates of 'Shiroi Koibito,' Ishiya's main commodity, of which 200 million are manufactured per year. It is known to foreign tourists and is like a money tree in this industry. Also, in the case of other products, the falsification of expiration dates and unsanitary factory conditions were revealed one after another. The situation is serious because these problems have an effect on our daily diet. Ishiya organized a committee to establish a compliance system and they started to work toward a 'declaration of security' of Ishiya's products as a first step toward restructuring the company. However, if they don't adopt concrete measures, it will become more difficult to rebuild trust among consumers.

In addition to the company's income-oriented culture, they also had relaxed and vague safety policies. It is unthinkable that a famous company like Ishiya would do such a thing. The criterion for deciding expiration dates is unclear and they decide the dates on their own without any scientific data. This seems unbelievable to customers.

At Ishiya, there are no written records of how they decided the expiration dates because it appears that none were taken. It is wrong that they put priority on profits rather than on customer safety. Employees who have suspicions cannot state their opinions openly because of the high-handedness of their bosses. Perhaps the closed environment in which precise information wasn't conveyed to the executive staff of the company made the situation worse.

They have moral and ethical problems at the top and a defective compliance system. The people who work at the company must be aware of the seriousness of these complex issues. Ishiya says that they set up new departments such as 'internal audit department,' 'legal and compliance department' and 'customer service department' to reform the company structure. They also renewed the existing commodity management department, and they strengthen customer support. They have also taken various concrete measures to prevent tampering.

For example, they ordered a printing machine which prints expiration dates on not only wrapping paper, but also on each package. It may be hard for them to break out of the company's old income-oriented mold that was established during its long history. The only thing consumers can do is wait and see how the company will improve its corporate structure, but it is hoped that the company can bounce back.

Consumer opinion is keenly focused on the safety of food. In this situation, the scandal has hurt the image of the company, the local industries and the tourist industries, and terribly ruined the reputation of Ishiya, the 'Brand of the North.'

Products from Hokkaido are popular not only among tourists, but also people all over Japan. Although it may seem wasteful to dispose of unsold products, repacking and reshipping products beyond their expiration dates must not happen again. To do so is a betrayal to customers who put trust in their products.

The impact that these scandals have on society is serious. Finding ways to carry out thorough reforms of the whole industry and ways to change attitudes that make light of the safety of foods is indispensable for winning back the confidence of customers. It is hoped that they will take convincible measures, and that the image of Hokkaido products and the reliability of Hokkaido companies are restored as soon as possible.