At long last, the Consumer Affairs Agency has decided to introduce a system to impose monetary penalties on companies that mislabel their food products.
Last year, hotels, department stores and other companies were caught in a web of false labeling scandals. Those scandals pushed the government, after public outcry, to investigate. After further debate, a system of punishment is at last being set up.
No one knows quite how long the food mislabeling has been going on. Since the agency was launched in 2009, consumer affairs centers nationwide have received around 57,000 inquiries concerning problems. Perhaps Japanese consumers are not so passive and acquiescent as thought; they just never had an agency on their side before. They need a stronger agency, however. Despite the high number of inquiries, an order to desist in false labeling has only been issued in 138 cases.