RPT-UPDATE 2-Japan's Lawson says sold food with old ingredients

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TOKYO, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Convenience store chain Lawson Inc (2651.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Monday one of its stores had used food ingredients past their expiry date, joining a growing list of Japanese companies admitting to having sold out-of-date food. Food safety and management has become an increasingly sensitive issue for Japanese consumers and investors, and Lawson's news sent its shares down as much as 4 percent at one point.

Last week, shares in McDonald's Japan (2702.Q: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 5.4 percent in two days after the company said it may have sold salads and other items past their expiration dates at as many as four Tokyo outlets after employees switched product labels.

Lawson, which trails industry leader Seven-Eleven Japan, said one of its stores in Osaka, western Japan, had used ingredients for "Oden" - Japanese hotchpotch - that were one or two days past their expiry date. The food was sold on Nov. 27-28.

Oden is offered at many Japanese convenience stores, where customers can pick from a range of items such as vegetables and eggs cooked in a pot on the counter.

Lawson said the store sold about 70 oden items per day on average, but it had not received any reports of customers getting sick. It also said it had found no similar incidents at other stores.

As of 0435 GMT, Lawson shares were down 2.2 percent at 3,960 yen. (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Hugh Lawson)