Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Crack Down on 63 Illegal Sellers and Manufacturers of Chuseok Seasonal Food Products

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has uncovered a large number of illegal activities by food manufacturing companies and livestock product sellers, including storing and using expired products for sale purposes and producing rice cakes by mixing Chinese rice with domestic rice while falsely labeling the origin as domestic.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit announced on the 15th that from the 23rd of last month to the 3rd of this month, they investigated 360 businesses including Chuseok peak season food manufacturing and processing companies and livestock product sellers in the province, focusing on those without HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) certification, and detected 74 illegal acts at 63 locations.

Among the major violations, a business located in Guri City (referred to as Business ㄱ) was found storing frozen chicken breast weighing 685.5kg in a refrigerator instead of preserving it below -18 degrees Celsius as required by food preservation and distribution handling standards.

A business in Uiwang City (Business ㄴ) was caught storing 20kg of refrigerated pork neck, which was 37 days past its expiration date, in a freezer without labeling it as "for disposal." A business in Gimpo City (Business ㄷ) was caught thawing 60kg of seasoned meat that was 5 days past its expiration date for reprocessing and sale.

A business in Bucheon City (Business ㄹ) was found falsely labeling Canadian pork neck as domestic and displaying it alongside domestic pork neck for sale. Another business in Gimpo City (Business ㅁ) produced about 10 types of rice cakes, including giji-tteok, by mixing Chinese nara rice with domestic nara rice, and sold them to over 20 locations while falsely labeling the packaging as "Only domestic rice is used."

Under the current Food Sanitation Act, selling products past their expiration date or storing them without a "for disposal" label is punishable by up to 3 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million KRW. Violations of food preservation standards, such as storing frozen products at refrigeration temperatures, can result in up to 5 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 50 million KRW.

Additionally, the Origin Labeling Act stipulates penalties of up to 7 years imprisonment or fines up to 100 million KRW for falsely labeling the origin or making misleading labels that may cause confusion.

Yoon Tae-wan, head of the province’s Special Judicial Police Unit, stated, "We selected businesses that manufacture and sell foods with high consumption during the upcoming Chuseok holiday as investigation targets," and promised, "We will continue to do our best to ensure that residents can consume food with peace of mind."

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