Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Crack Down on 10 Illegal Kimchi Season Food Manufacturing and Sales Businesses

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has uncovered a large number of illegal food manufacturing and sales businesses that mixed Chinese red pepper powder with domestic red pepper powder to make kimchi while labeling the origin as domestic.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police announced on the 18th that from the 18th to the 29th of last month, ahead of the kimchi-making season, they conducted investigations on 90 businesses manufacturing and selling seasonal kimchi-related products such as kimchi, red pepper powder, salted seafood, and minced garlic, and detected 11 illegal acts at 10 locations.

The violations included ▲unreported business operations (business/change of business report) (3 cases) ▲violation of mandatory self-quality inspection (5 cases) ▲false or confusing labeling of origin, such as imported red pepper powder (3 cases).

Among the major cases, a kimchi manufacturing and sales business ㄱ located in Uiwang was caught producing and selling napa cabbage kimchi, young radish kimchi, young summer radish kimchi, and cubed radish kimchi in unsanitary business premises without reporting to the relevant administrative authorities since 2005.

A ready-to-sell manufacturing and processing business ㄴ in Seongnam was found to have mixed some Chinese red pepper powder with domestic red pepper powder to make and sell kimchi since last year, labeling the origin of the kimchi as "domestic" at the entrance, while inside the business premises, labeling the red pepper powder as both "domestic" and "Chinese," causing confusion about the origin. In particular, kimchi was manufactured at a location other than the reported business site, while sales were conducted at the reported business site.

A food manufacturing company ㄷ in Gwangju, which produces and sells kimchi and side dishes, did not conduct any self-quality inspections on all products after requesting an inspection on June 30 of last year. Finished products such as kimchi, pickled foods, braised dishes, and red pepper powder must undergo self-quality inspections at least once every three months.

A food manufacturing company ㄹ in Suwon was also confirmed to have not conducted self-quality inspections since the inspection on May 24 of this year while manufacturing kimchi.

According to the current Food Sanitation Act, operating a business without reporting or changing the report and violating the obligation of self-quality inspection can result in imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won. Under the Act on the Labeling of Origin of Agricultural and Fishery Products, false or confusing labeling of origin can result in imprisonment for up to seven years or a fine of up to 100 million won.

Yoon Tae-wan, head of the Special Judicial Police of the province, emphasized, "As imports of kimchi and kimchi-making ingredients increase during the kimchi-making season, more attention is needed for hygiene and safety management. The businesses caught will be strictly punished according to relevant laws and regulations, and we will continue to strengthen crackdowns on highly consumed foods to ensure safe food for residents."

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