The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday dismissed a 2.2 billion yen suit against the government filed by farmers of "kaiware" daikon sprouts.
The farmers had demanded compensation for economic losses allegedly caused by government statements regarding the cause of an outbreak of food poisoning in 1996.
The plaintiffs, comprising the Nihon Kaiware Kyokai (Japan Radish Sprout Association) and 19 producers of white radish sprouts across the country, claimed they suffered a sharp drop in shipments following government announcements that kaiware daikon sprouts were the probable source of an E. coli epidemic that struck Japan that summer.