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The Structural Reasons Why Food Poisoning in Restaurant Chains Won't Stop—The Reality Exposed by Hama-Sushi, Kisoji, and Sukiya

ま＠AI×DX

On April 2, Hama-Sushi announced a mass food poisoning outbreak caused by norovirus at its Kobayashi store in Miyazaki Prefecture. 39 people reported symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting, and norovirus was detected in 17 customers and 4 employees.

In fact, Hama-Sushi had just experienced a food poisoning incident involving 13 people at its Kainan store in Wakayama Prefecture in March. That is two cases in one month. Moreover, both were caused by norovirus.

This is not a matter that can be dismissed with a simple "it happened again." From 2024 to 2026, food safety incidents at major restaurant chains have clearly been on the rise. And behind this lies a structural problem that the entire industry is facing.

What happened at major chains from 2024 to 2026?

Let's organize this chronologically.

February 2024: Kisoji Nishi-Arai Store (Adachi Ward, Tokyo)
163 people who ate Eho-maki sushi rolls or sashimi were infected with norovirus. Three people, including an 8-year-old boy, were hospitalized. The store received a 5-day business suspension order. A scale of over 160 people was an unusually large food poisoning incident for a chain restaurant.

January 2025: Hama-Sushi Minami-Satsuma Store (Kagoshima Prefecture)
15 people suffered from norovirus food poisoning. The virus was also detected in two employees. The store received a 2-day business suspension.

March 2025: Sukiya Temporary Closure of All Stores
A cockroach was found in a product served at the Akishima Station South store. Prior to this, in January, a mouse was found in miso soup at a store in Tottori Prefecture. Sukiya took the unprecedented step of closing all of its approximately 1,970 stores nationwide from March 31 to April 4 to implement pest and vermin control measures.

April 2025: Kisoji Nishinomiya Store (Hyogo Prefecture)
Multiple customers were infected with norovirus. The virus was also detected in employees, leading to a 3-day business suspension.

January 2026: Kyotaru/Sushiro Nishi-Ogikubo Store (Tokyo)
11 people who purchased Kyotaru products developed symptoms. Norovirus was detected in 3 customers and 2 employees.

January 2026: Kisoji Hoshizaki Store (Nagoya City)
15 people who ate shabu-shabu or sashimi were infected with norovirus. Victims ranged in age from 8 to 79. The store received a business suspension order. This was the third food poisoning incident for Kisoji since the Nishi-Arai store incident in 2024.

March 2026: Hama-Sushi Kainan Store (Wakayama Prefecture)
13 people were infected with norovirus, and 2 were hospitalized. The store received a 3-day business suspension.

April 2026: Hama-Sushi Kobayashi Store (Miyazaki Prefecture)
39 out of 66 customers who visited the store developed symptoms. Norovirus was detected in 17 customers and 4 employees. Although the store received a 2-day business suspension order, it had already voluntarily suspended operations starting March 29.

The common factors are "norovirus" and "detection in employees"

When these incidents are lined up, two patterns emerge.

First, the causative agent is almost always norovirus.

According to Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare statistics (final figures for 2024), norovirus was the leading cause of food poisoning, with 276 incidents and 8,656 patients. It surpassed Campylobacter (208 incidents) and accounted for approximately 60% of the total number of patients. Norovirus has troublesome characteristics: infection can occur from a small amount of the virus, it is resistant to alcohol disinfection, and secondary infections spread from the vomit of infected individuals.

Second, in almost every case, the virus was also detected in employees.

This suggests contamination during the cooking process rather than an issue with the ingredients themselves. While official reports for each incident do not disclose the details of the employees' work attendance, it is highly probable that infected employees were involved in food preparation. Since norovirus is infectious even before symptoms appear, it is possible that some employees were cooking without being aware they were infected.

Why can't it be stopped?

"We will thoroughly enforce hygiene management." Companies that cause food poisoning always say this. Kisoji, Hama-Sushi, and Zensho all issue the same comment every time.

However, in reality, it hasn't stopped. Kisoji has had three incidents in two years, and Hama-Sushi has had three in one year.

The reason is simple: the restaurant industry is structurally in a state where it "cannot thoroughly enforce hygiene management."

Labor shortages kill hygiene management.

In 2026, the labor shortage in the restaurant industry is no longer a temporary phenomenon but a structural problem. The younger generation avoids the restaurant industry due to its image of being "tough, low-paying, and unable to take time off," choosing retail or office work for the same hourly wage. As a result, running stores with fewer people has become the norm, and because there is no one to cover for them, employees come to work even when they are feeling unwell. The incubation period for norovirus is 24 to 48 hours. It is infectious even before symptoms appear. "I feel sick, but there's no one else, so I have to go in" is a direct cause of food poisoning.

Hygiene education does not take root in operations centered on part-time workers.

Restaurant chain operations have a high ratio of part-time workers and high turnover rates. Amidst this constant churn, it is extremely difficult to keep instilling mundane but important hygiene knowledge—such as the timing for handwashing, rules for reporting physical condition, and how to handle bivalves—into everyone. There are manuals. But the staffing levels are not set up to allow for following those manuals.

The mandatory nature of HACCP has become a mere formality.

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points), which became fully mandatory in June 2021, is a system for analyzing hazards and setting critical control points for each food manufacturing and cooking process. However, looking at the reality on the ground, not only small businesses but even chain stores have a reality where records are kept only as a formality. The paperwork is in order. But the actual operations are not being managed.

Pressure to cut costs puts safety investments on the back burner.

With food costs and labor costs rising simultaneously, investment in hygiene management is an "invisible" cost. New handwashing facilities, health management systems, and securing substitute personnel—all of these cost money, but the returns are not visible until an accident occurs. Management says they will "thoroughly enforce" it, but what trickles down to the front lines are instructions for staff reductions and cost-cutting.

The "visualization of limits" shown by Sukiya's store-wide closures

The closure of all Sukiya stores in March 2025 was symbolic. The cost of closing approximately 1,970 stores for five days is enormous. Even so, the reason Zensho had to make that decision was that the damage to their brand from two incidents of foreign object contamination could no longer be ignored.

Conversely, they could not bring themselves to take store-wide action after the first incident of mouse contamination (in January). It was only after the second incident of cockroach contamination (in March) caused a firestorm on social media that they finally acted. This reveals a structure where the response to food accidents is dependent on "public pressure."

What should consumers look for?

The feeling that "it's a major chain, so it's safe" no longer holds true. In fact, precisely because they are major chains, they run a large number of stores with few personnel, leading to inconsistencies in the quality of hygiene management.

There is a limit to what consumers can do, but there are a few perspectives one can keep in mind.

  • Information on business suspension orders from public health centers is published on the websites of each local government. You can check the history of the stores you frequent.

  • Winter (November to March) is the high season for norovirus. Be aware that this is a time when the risks of raw food and bivalves increase.

  • If a store employee is clearly unwell (coughing, looking pale, etc.), judge the risk of eating at that establishment.

However, these are merely symptomatic treatments. Fundamentally, unless the restaurant industry breaks away from a business model that 'burns through people,' food poisoning will continue to occur structurally.

'Thorough Hygiene Management' Is Not the Solution

In its latest announcement, Hama-Sushi prefaced its statement by saying, 'We have been promoting employee training and the development of internal systems aimed at thorough hygiene management on a daily basis,' before stating that it would 'thoroughly prevent recurrence.'

One should feel a sense of unease at this wording. 'We have been thorough, but an accident occurred. Therefore, we will be even more thorough'—this is simply expecting different results from the same methods.

What is needed is not thoroughness, but a structural change. Staffing systems where people cannot take time off even when ill. Shift structures with no backups. Operational designs that prioritize turnover rates over hygiene. Unless these are changed, the same apology letters will be issued time and time again.

As someone who worked in the restaurant industry for eight years, I can say that the people on the front lines are not lazy; they are structurally cornered. It is not that they lack knowledge of hygiene management. Even if they have the knowledge, the system is not set up to allow them to execute it.

Food poisoning is not an 'accidental occurrence.' It is happening because it is bound to happen.

Source:


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