TOKYO - TEN people have fallen ill in Japan after eating dumplings from China that contained insecticide, police said on Wednesday, warning they could press criminal charges.

The scare was breaking news in Japan, with national television broadcasting live a press conference in which the distributor said it was recalling the dumplings.

Ten people, including a mother and her four children, fell ill in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo and western Hyogo prefecture after eating 'gyoza' dumplings, local police officials said.

'We are looking to see whether this constitutes a criminal case,' a police official in Chiba prefecture told AFP.

'I think the investigation will focus on professional negligence,' he said on customary condition of anonymity.

Japan Tobacco Foods, part of the nation's giant cigarette maker, said insecticide was found in the dumplings and that it was launching a nationwide recall.

The gyoza, which historically originated in China but is one of Japan's most popular foods, is a steamed dumpling, generally with ground meat inside.

Chinese-made products, ranging from seafood to car tyres to toys, were at the centre of a series of global safety scandals and recalls last year. -- AFP