Leo faces backlash for dismissing Komeo food poisoning incident

A food poisoning incident involving the restaurant ‘Kappo Komeo’ has sparked significant social media controversy in Japan. During the Azabu-juban Noryo Matsuri in late August, the restaurant served ‘chilled crab ramen’ that led to a Salmonella outbreak, affecting 78 people and resulting in three hospitalizations. Following an administrative suspension, the owner, Komeo—a former BreakingDown fighter—announced the closure of ‘Kappo Komeo’ on October 1.

Controversy intensified when Leo, a current BreakingDown fighter, posted disparaging remarks on X, referring to Komeo as ‘Salmonella-gerio.’ Despite Komeo requesting that Leo stop due to the sensitivity of the victims, Leo responded by calling critics ‘weaklings’ and dismissing the severity of the incident by stating, ‘It’s just food poisoning’ and questioning if anyone had died.

Komeo has stated he will step away from cooking to focus on personal growth, though he intends to continue operating his crab ramen specialty shop, ‘Kanio,’ under a different business entity. This move has drawn criticism from figures like editor Kosuke Minowa, who suggested the explanation for maintaining the other business felt insincere.