Consumer accidents related to life and health
Part 1 : Today's consumer issues and consumers' behavior/attitude
Chapter 4 : Trends in consumer issues
Section 2 : Consumer accidents related to life and health
Information on accidents related to life and health is collected by the CAA through various channels
- When a serious consumer accident, such as a fatal accident occurs, it is essential to prevent the increase of damage and the recurrence of identical/similar accidents. The Consumer Safety Act addresses this by requiring relevant administrative organizations and local governments that have been informed of the occurrence of serious injuries to immediately report to the Consumer Affairs Agency. They must also report to the CAA consumer accidents that do not involve serious injuries but hold the risk of the increase of damage and the recurrence of identical/similar consumer accidents.
Consultations on damage/risk information increased in FY 2013
- The number of both consumer affairs consultations on "damage information" and those on "risk information" significantly increased in FY 2013 from the previous fiscal year.
- The factors behind this include the growth of consultations on white blotches on the skin of users of cosmetics of Kanebo Cosmetics Inc. and other businesses as well as the sharp increase in consultations on frozen foods in the wake of the case in which Aqli Foods Corp.'s products were tainted with pesticide.
Consultations on damage/risk from "prepared frozen foods" suddenly surged
- In the wake of the case in which Aqli Foods Corp.'s frozen foods were tainted with pesticide, which was discovered in December 2013, consumer affairs consultation on "prepared frozen foods" suddenly surged about 24- fold in FY 2013 from the previous fiscal year, reaching 4,477 cases. Among them, about 1,000 cases were concerning damage, and about 2,300 cases concerning risk. These numbers are far above the comparable figures recorded in FY 2007, when the case involving frozen dumplings imported from China occurred.
