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GOV'T TO APPEAL RULING OVER DAMAGES FOR
SPROUT GROWERS
May 29, 2003
AP
TOKYO -- Ministry sources were cited as saying Thursday that the Japanese health
ministry is planning to appeal a recent ruling by the Tokyo High Court ordering
the state to pay damages to growers of white radish sprouts for branding the
vegetable as a probable cause of a fatal outbreak of food poisoning in 1996 in
Osaka.
The story says that the high court on May 21 ruled that the government must pay
about 16.9 million yen in compensation to growers of "Kaiware" radish sprouts
for damaging their businesses by releasing unconfirmed information when it said
the sprouts were the likely source of the outbreak of food poisoning in Osaka
caused by the O-157 strain of E. coli bacteria.
The growers had demanded that the state pay 110 million yen to make up for the
lost revenue they suffered following the announcement, while the ministry had
said the announcement was appropriate. The story adds that the government has
not reached a final conclusion on what was the cause of the food poisoning.
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