Gwangju City Seized and Disposed of 3,300kg of Non-compliant Agricultural Products Last Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] The Gwangju Metropolitan City Health and Environment Research Institute announced on the 7th that it confiscated and disposed of 73 agricultural products, totaling 3,300 kg, that exceeded the pesticide residue tolerance limits in safety inspections conducted last year.

The institute inspected 4,256 agricultural products last year, including 3,058 items brought into the Western and Gakhwa Agricultural (Fishery) Wholesale Markets and 1,198 items distributed in large supermarkets and local food markets. They tested for 314 types of pesticide residues and found that 73 cases, accounting for 1.7%, exceeded the allowable limits.

The non-compliance details by agricultural product are as follows: 14 cases of Ssukgat (crown daisy), 9 cases of Buchu (garlic chives), 4 cases each of Chamnamul (Korean wild greens), Chwinamul (Aster scaber), and Ssamchu (lettuce for wraps), 3 cases each of Gogumasun (sweet potato shoots), Danggui (Angelica), Bangpungnamul (Siler), and Sangchu (lettuce), 2 cases each of Gat (mustard greens), Bomdong (spring cabbage), Sebalnamul (water dropwort), Auk (mallow), Eolgari (young napa cabbage), and Oi (cucumber), and 1 case each of Gaji (eggplant), Gaetbangpung (coastal plant), Godeulppaegi (Korean lettuce), Gochutnip (chili pepper leaves), Deulkkatnip (perilla leaves), Dallae (wild chives), Meowiip (butterbur leaves), Memilsun (buckwheat shoots), Musogeumeum (thinned radish), Minari (water parsley), Ssambaechu (wrap cabbage), Yuchae (rape), Cheongpimang (green bell pepper), and Chicory, totaling 29 items.

The pesticides exceeding the tolerance limits were mostly fungicides and insecticides: 10 cases of Diazinon, 9 cases of Fluopiram, 8 cases of Prosaimidon, 6 cases each of Diniconazole and Ethoprophos, 5 cases of Flubendiamide, 4 cases of Pendimethalin, 3 cases each of Alachlor and Chlorothalonil, 2 cases each of Oxadiazon, Chlorpyrifos, Fenitrothion, Pyridaben, and Pyridalyl, and 1 case each of Napropamide, Novaluron, Isoprothiolane, Endosulfan, Iprobenfos, EPN, Indoxacarb, Chlorpyrifos-methyl, Kinomethionate, Tebuconazole, Tebupirimfos, Tetraconazole, Fludioxonil, and Pyriproxyfen, totaling 28 types.

Agricultural products judged as non-compliant were immediately confiscated and disposed of to prevent circulation in the market. The producers of these products were administratively sanctioned by the relevant authorities and prohibited from shipping to nationwide agricultural wholesale markets for one month.

Jo Bae-sik, Director of the Food and Drug Research Department, stated, “Following the Western Agricultural and Fishery Products Inspection Office, the opening of the Gakhwa Agricultural Products Inspection Office in March last year has enabled more thorough pesticide residue inspections at public wholesale markets, which are key distribution points for agricultural products. Since the full implementation of the Positive List System (PLS) for pesticide residues in 2019, we are operating the pesticide residue analysis system continuously to ensure that the system is well established according to its original purpose, so that citizens can safely consume agricultural products with confidence.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.