Seoul City to Implement 'Selective Packaging' for Commercial Eggs in New Year... Guidance with Citizen Honorary Monitors

Mandatory 'Sorting and Packaging' Expanded from Household to Commercial Eggs Starting 1st
Restaurants, Bakeries, and Group Catering Facilities Must Purchase and Use Only Sorted and Packaged Eggs

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City will expand the ‘egg sorting and packaging’ requirement from household use to commercial use, including restaurants, bakeries, and group catering facilities starting in the new year. To ensure the system is well established, the city will conduct citizen honorary monitoring, promotion, and guidance, and begin inspections and supervision in the second half of the year.

On the 1st, Seoul City announced that it will expand the mandatory ‘egg sorting and packaging’ system. All eggs distributed in the market must go through professional processing steps such as sorting, washing, drying, sterilization, candling, and packaging at HACCP-applied ‘edible egg sorting and packaging businesses.’ Once sorting and packaging become mandatory, eggs unsuitable for consumption, such as spoiled eggs or those containing blood spots, must be sorted out, then washed, dried, sterilized, packaged, and distributed.

The ‘sorting and packaging distribution system’ was implemented in April last year and applied only to household eggs purchased directly by consumers at marts and supermarkets. However, from the new year, it will be expanded to commercial eggs, securing hygiene and safety across all distributed eggs.

Accordingly, ‘edible egg collection and sales businesses’ supplying eggs to the market must process eggs through edible egg sorting and packaging businesses and keep the issued ‘certificates’ for more than six months. Additionally, when supplying eggs to other businesses, they must provide a copy of the certificate, which the receiving business must also keep for more than six months.

Seoul City will strive to establish the system so that citizens can purchase safe eggs. In the first half of next year, citizen honorary monitors will investigate on-site conditions of businesses to ensure compliance with the system and conduct promotion and guidance. Key points include ▲prohibition of using eggs without all required labeling ▲purchase of eggs handled by edible egg collection and sales businesses ▲purchase of eggs sorted and packaged by edible egg sorting and packaging businesses.

In the second half of the year, citizen honorary monitors along with the city and autonomous districts will conduct supervision and inspections targeting one edible egg sorting and packaging business and 290 edible egg collection and sales businesses in the Seoul area. Major inspection items include ▲whether egg sorting and packaging processing and issuance of edible egg sorting and packaging certificates are properly conducted ▲whether eggs unsuitable for consumption, such as broken eggs, are stored, distributed, or sold ▲compliance with individual egg labeling standards and any forgery or alteration.

Furthermore, eggs sold at department stores and other places frequently used by citizens will be collected for safety tests, including pesticide residues, residual antibiotics and antibacterial substances, and microorganisms (such as Salmonella). Violating businesses will face administrative actions such as business suspension and fines according to the Livestock Products Hygiene Control Act, and non-compliant products will be seized and destroyed.

Park Yumi, Director of the Seoul City Citizen Health Bureau, said, “With the expansion of egg sorting and packaging to commercial use, egg safety will improve, and safety accidents in places like restaurants are expected to decrease. Seoul City will create a distribution environment where citizens can purchase eggs with confidence and further strengthen livestock product safety.”

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