Kirin Beverage Corp. said Tuesday it is recalling about 610,000 cans of tomato juice after receiving a complaint that a fly was found in a can of tomato juice sold in Tokyo.

Being recalled are the company's 190-gram cans of Kan-iri Kirin Asazumi Makkana Tomato.

A 50-year-old housewife in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, complained to Kirin Beverage Corp. that she found a dead fly in a can of the tomato juice on July 31, after which she took the can to a health center for inspection, the company said.

The health center concluded Monday that the fly was an adult "kuro-kinbae," a kind of green-bottle fly, and that it had been heated during processing at the factory, forcing Kirin to decide to recall the product early Tuesday.

The kuro-kinbae thrives on carcasses, animal droppings and land that has been reclaimed using garbage. It is a suspected carrier of the polio virus.

The housewife bought the juice at a supermarket in Nerima, the company said, adding that the can was one of 617,460 produced Sept. 1, 1999, at its affiliate Nagano Tomato's factory in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture.

E. coli in ice cream

TOYAMA (Kyodo) Health inspectors have discovered E. coli bacteria in 15 ice cream products made at a factory in Oyabe, Toyama Prefecture, owned by Ebisu, local health authorities said Tuesday.

The company has been ordered to recall the products, shut down its operations until Saturday and ensure its production line is up to hygienic standards.

The bacteria were discovered during a regular inspection conducted from late June to early July, according to Toyama Prefecture's food and drug department, citing a report it received from health authorities in the city of Tonami who carried out the inspection.

Ebisu responded by launching a recall of its entire 18-product lineup.

There have been no reports from consumers complaining of tainted products made by the company.

However, Ebisu sells some of its production through direct marketing outside the prefecture and the health officials have instructed the company to recall any of these products should they be linked to the bacteria's discovery.