A subsidiary of Maruha Nichiro Holdings Inc. said Sunday it is recalling 6.3 million packages of frozen food ranging from croquettes to pizza after pesticide was detected in some of them.
The food subject to the recall was made at a factory of subsidiary Aqlifoods Co. in Gunma Prefecture.
After customers complained that the food smelled unusual, the company examined the products and detected the presence of malathion, an insecticide that is not usually used in the factory, it said.
While there are no reports of serious health damage, one child did vomit as a result of the odor, according to Aqlifoods.
The company will suspend operations at the Gunma factory and halt shipments from it until it determines the cause of the problem, it said.
"I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart for causing trouble to our customers," Aqlifoods President Yutaka Tanabe told a press conference in Tokyo.