Society

Filet-O-Fish to take one less trip to the freezer in Japan

Oct 29 (Nikkei) - McDonald's (Japan) has reworked how it prepares the popular Filet-O-Fish sandwich for the first time in 25 years, freezing the fish just once instead of twice to preserve more of the original texture and flavor.

The filet is made with Alaska pollock caught in the Bering Sea. The McDonald's Holdings (Japan) unit had frozen the fish and sent them to Thailand, where they were thawed for skinning and deboning before being refrozen and processed into the familiar square breaded patties.

Japanese fish processor Delmar recently set up Alaska facilities that can handle skinning and deboning, skipping the initial freeze-and-thaw step. Now the fish will be thawed only when the sandwiches are made in-store.

The change halves the amount of water used for thawing and slashes carbon dioxide emissions from the production process by 38%, thanks to more efficient transportation and electricity usage, the fast-food purveyor said in its announcement Monday.

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Japan Ranks 92nd in English Proficiency, Lowest in History

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Famed Hot Spring Struggles to Handle Visitor Surge

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Convenience Stores to Start Selling Over-the-Counter Drugs

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has announced plans to allow the sale of over-the-counter drugs at convenience stores without on-site pharmacists.

Japan Looks to Limit Continuous Work

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's advisory panel has outlined a proposal for amending the law to prohibit working more than 14 consecutive days. Under the current system, workers can technically work up to 48 days in a row through a system known as 'four-day-off-per-four-weeks,' while labor agreements also allow for holiday work, meaning there are no effective restrictions on consecutive workdays.

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