TOKYO, May 28, 2024—Traditional pickled vegetables, cured plums, fish condiments that for centuries have been on Japanese household tables as ‘mountain and sea treats’ are facing extinction as new, stringent food safety regulations kick in on June 1, 2024 demanding that tiny mom-and-pot shops observe the rules.
A farmers shop in Shimogo town, Fukushima that sells cured plums called umeboshi and miso-marinated pickles as well as fresh vegetables made by local independent farmers has already lost more than 30 percent of cargo arrivals as an increasing number of farmers are giving up manufacturing products for reason of high investment costs to refurbish their old manufacturing facilities such as new sinks, storages to meet government permits, local newspapers reported.
What independent producers make bear special flavors, unlike those manufactured at large factories , the general manager of a farmers market in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima, was quoted as saying. Because those home-made products do not use preservatives and food additives, they do not last long, so the independent makers give up making altogether instead of investing millions of yen in modernizing facilities, he said.
Effective June 1, 2024, those that do not have government permits under the 2021 Food Safety Law amendment are banned from shipping products to the marketplace. An official of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s Food Safety Division told The Prospect that they had no data on pickles and other food manufacturing that the new regulations might have on manufacturers.
It was obvious, though, that small and independent makers are folding their operations because of high costs to modernize facilities, which some news reports have put at 5 million yen ($33,000) just for installing new faucets and sinks and obtaining permits.
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