TOKYO: Japan on Wednesday ordered retailers to pull frozen green beans imported from China off the shelves after a woman fell ill eating them, the health ministry said.

The woman felt numb in her mouth Sunday after eating a dish using frozen green beans from China which she had bought at a Tokyo supermarket, a health ministry official said.

She went to hospital and was released with no apparent health problems after an overnight check, the official said.

The health ministry instructed retailers and importers nationwide to suspend sales of the beans from the Chinese supplier "until the cause of the incident becomes clear," the official said.

The Tokyo metropolitan government conducted tests on Tuesday and found that the beans had 34,500 times the pesticide residue level permitted by the Japanese government.

The importer, Tokyo-based Nichirei Foods, said it procured the beans from a company called Yantai Beihai Foodstuff in eastern Shandong province.

"We conducted an inspection on a sample of the beans before importing them but did not detect pesticides," a Nichirei Foods spokesman said.

It is the latest scare in Japan about Chinese-made food products.

Ten people suffered pesticide poisoning in December and January, and thousands of others reported feeling sick after eating frozen dumplings imported from China.

China has also been hit by a scandal over milk products tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, which has killed four children and sickened at least 53,000 others.

Food safety has turned into a major political issue in Japan which imports 60 per cent of its food - the highest rate of any rich country.

- AFP/yt