Head of Japan's Fujiya resigns in food scandal

TOKYO, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The president of Japanese cake maker and retailer Fujiya Co. Ltd. (2211.T) on Monday said he would resign to take responsibility after the company sold cream puffs and other pastries made from stale ingredients. Marking the latest food-safety scandal to shake the confidence of Japanese consumers, Fujiya has admitted to shipping products made with old eggs, cream and milk at least 18 times over the past seven years. It also said it supplied pastries last year that were later discovered to contain unacceptable levels of bacteria.

Before the resignation announcement, Fujiya's shares ended down 3 percent at 192 yen, having fallen 18 percent since news of the scandal broke last week.

"I am resigning to take responsibility for inviting instability to the company," Fujiya President Rintaro Fujii told a news conference.

Japan's two largest retailers confirmed on Monday they would stop carrying Fujiya products indefinitely, pulling the company's confectionery and other goods from a total of 15,000 stores.

Seven & I Holdings Co. Ltd. (3382.T), Japan's largest retailer and the operator 7-Eleven convenience stores, said it would remove Fujiya confectionery from its 12,000 group outlets. A spokesman for Seven & I declined to comment on the company's annual sales of Fujiya products.

Second-ranked Aeon Co. Ltd. (8267.T) said it buys about 1 billion yen of Fujiya products annually to sell at its 3,000 stores.

Fujiya also said it was hoping to resume production at its five factories by early February, but was unsure if it would do so in time for the Valentine's Day holiday.

The company last week halted production and withdrew products from its own stores, which number nearly 900, in order to strengthen its food-safety measures.