Co-op Kobe, Japan's biggest consumer cooperative, said Tuesday it will resume buying products from the Nippon Meat Packers Inc. group around Saturday.
The decision follows a farm ministry announcement Monday that it has lifted its ban on the meat packer's beef-related operations after the firm, better known as Nippon Ham, and its subsidiary became embroiled in a beef-mislabeling scandal.
Co-op Kobe was among the retailers that removed Nippon Ham products from its store shelves after the scandal broke in early August. The Kobe-based co-op operates 154 outlets for its 1.42 million members, mainly in the Kansai region centering on Osaka and Kobe.
Before the scandal, it received about 10 percent of the products it handles from the Nippon Ham group.