Distribution of Imported Agricultural Products Ahead of Lunar New Year... "False Origin Reward Up to 10 Million Won"

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Ahead of the Seollal holiday, as demand for agricultural products surges, cases of falsely labeling the origin of products for sale are also expected to increase. If the origin is suspected to be false, reports should be made via phone or the internet, and if the report leads to the detection of a violation of origin labeling, the informant may receive a reward of up to 10 million KRW.

On the 1st, the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service announced that it would provide key agricultural product origin identification information to help with shopping for ancestral rites and ritual items ahead of the Seollal holiday.

First, in the case of jujubes, domestic ones have a lighter surface color, a strong aroma, and many stems attached, whereas Chinese ones have a darker surface color, almost no aroma, and generally fewer stems attached.

For chestnuts, domestic ones have large, glossy nuts with thick inner shells that are hard to peel, while Chinese chestnuts are smaller, less glossy, and have thin inner shells that peel easily.

Also, domestic dried persimmons have elastic flesh and a bright orange color with stems cut in a round shape, whereas Chinese dried persimmons have hard or soft flesh with a dull orange color and stems generally cut in a square shape.

For peeled jujubes, domestic ones are short in length with shells that do not peel off easily, leaving some shell attached, and when bitten, they feel soft with almost no bitterness. Chinese peeled jujubes are relatively longer, have shells that peel off easily leaving a clean surface, and when bitten, they feel tough with a strong bitterness.

Domestic bracken fern stems have irregularly cut cross-sections at the bottom and feel tender when eaten. Chinese bracken fern stems have smooth cross-sections cut with a knife at the bottom and generally have a tough texture.

Additionally, domestic shiitake mushrooms (fresh shiitake) have wide, irregular caps and clean, fresh stems, whereas Chinese shiitake mushrooms have round, uniform caps and stems with foreign substances attached.

Methods for identifying the origin of other items are provided on the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service website and can be easily downloaded and used by anyone. The agency plans to continuously promote the origin labeling system and identification methods for domestic and imported products by item to prevent consumers from being deceived into purchasing foreign agricultural products as domestic ones. Consumers are urged to check the origin when purchasing agricultural products and to report by phone or internet if the origin is not labeled or if there is suspicion about the labeled origin. If the report leads to detection of a violation of origin labeling, the informant will receive a reward ranging from 50,000 to 10 million KRW.

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