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BEIJING -- Chinese-made gyoza dumplings that were recalled after last year's poisoning incident, in which 10 Japanese consumers were sickened after consuming the food, were purchased by Chinese companies, it was reported over the weekend.

The recalled frozen dumplings, produced by Tianyang Food Plant of Hebei Province, were bought up by some 20 area companies last April under the direction of the Hebei provincial government, the Xinhua official news agency reported in its English service.

The agency also reported that a man fell ill after eating the food distributed by Chengde Iron and Steel, one of the companies that bought up the affected dumplings. However, the man recovered without a visit to hospital. Tangshan Iron and Steel, another Hebei company that bought up the recalled food under the province's direction, reported no cases of food poisoning.

According to a source related to the case, Hebei Province directed the local companies to buy up the recalled gyoza to rescue the financially ailing Tianyang Food Plant. At that time, the Chinese government stated that the chances that the poison had been added to the dumplings in China were remote, and that items that had been recalled before being exported were safe to eat.