Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Investigate Illegal Activities of Children's 'Preference Foods' Ahead of School Opening

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province is cracking down on illegal activities at children's favorite food establishments around elementary schools ahead of the new semester.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police announced on the 11th that from the 18th to the 24th of this month, they will conduct a focused investigation on establishments that sell and manufacture children's favorite foods such as ice cream and hamburgers to strengthen the safety of children's food.

The investigation targets a total of 60 locations, including ice cream, hamburger, and pizza cooking and sales establishments around school routes within the province, as well as bakeries and confectionery manufacturing businesses.

The main inspection items include ▲ use of expired ingredients during food production ▲ unsanitary management of production facilities and food ▲ non-compliance with storage standards for raw materials and finished products ▲ false labeling of the place of origin.

Additionally, sample inspections will be conducted to check for harmful substances in children's favorite foods.

Using expired ingredients can result in imprisonment for up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30 million won; violating food storage standards, such as storing frozen products in refrigeration, can lead to imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million won; and false labeling of the place of origin can result in imprisonment for up to 7 years or a fine of up to 100 million won.

Yoon Tae-wan, head of the Special Judicial Police of the province, emphasized, "Since this investigation is directly related to children's health, we will thoroughly inspect to preemptively block risk factors, and immediately seize counterfeit and substandard foods on site to prevent their distribution as much as possible."

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