| meiji | |
| Type | public kabushiki gaisha TYO: 2261: until March 26, 2009 Nagoya SE: 2261: until March 26, 2009 |
|---|---|
| Industry | food |
| Founded | Tokyo, Japan (December 21, 1917) |
| Headquarters | 2-10, Shinsuna Itchome, Koto, Tokyo, Japan |
| Parent | Meiji Holdings Co., Ltd. |
| Website | www.meiji.co.jp/english/ |
Meiji Dairies Corporation (明治乳業株式会社 Meiji Nyūgyō Kabushiki-gaisha) is the trade name of a food company in Japan, Meiji Co., Ltd. (株式会社明治 Kabushiki-gaisha Meiji), until March 31, 2011.
It was a major dairy industry company established in 1917. Apart from dairy products like milk, ice cream, and cheese, their lineup includes sports drinks, pizza, chocolate bars and food supplements like "Toromeiku", described as a "food viscosity preparation". It has a joint venture in Thailand with Charoen Pokphand to market dairy products.
On April 1, 2009, Meiji Seika Kaisha, Ltd. and Meiji Dairies Corporation established a joint holding company, Meiji Holdings Co. (TYO: 2269), which is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 index. Two years later on the day, Meiji Dairies took over the food and healthcare business of Meiji Seika, and became a food company, "Meiji Co., Ltd."
On December 6, 2011, radioactive cesium was found in Meiji baby formula. The level of contamination was lower than the Japanese government's allowable limit of 200 becquerels per kilogram, which is 50 becquerels higher than the limit applied in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster. The company made the controversial claim that the infant milk was "within safety limits" and that it "didn't pose a health risk", despite a potentially large number of infants suffering internal radiation through ingesting the contaminated milk who were presumably already exposed to the external radiation originally unleashed in the March disaster. Meiji Dairies voluntarily recalled 400,000 cans of formula. The radioactive contamination was originally discovered by a citizen's group in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture as far back as November but the company found itself unable to act immediately upon the information. [1][2]