'Myeonjoin' Falsified as 'Sanjoin'... Seoul City Uncovers 6 Herbal Medicine Manufacturers

A total of 2,500kg of cheap and banned fake Sanjoin worth 80 million KRW manufactured and distributed

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Civil Life Judicial Police Unit announced on the 8th that it purchased products from 10 manufacturers of Sanjoin (Zizyphus jujuba) distributed to Korean medicine clinics in December 2021 and found that 6 companies used a cheaper similar product, Myeonjoin (Zizyphus mauritiana), and that 2 of these companies have been criminally charged and are under investigation.

According to information that many counterfeit Sanjoin products are circulating, Seoul randomly purchased products from herbal medicine wholesalers and Korean medicine hospitals, confirming that more than half were counterfeit. The Sanjoin produced by the 6 companies from May 2020 to August 2021 amounted to 2,500 kg worth about 80 million KRW, which was supplied to Korean medicine clinics and used in herbal prescriptions.

Herbal medicines are broadly divided into those distributed with approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for pharmaceutical use and those available on the market as food products. The Sanjoin detected in this investigation targeted pharmaceutical products distributed to Korean medicine clinics. Although herbal medicines used as pharmaceuticals in Korean medicine clinics should be strictly managed during manufacturing and distribution, on-site inspections of the detected manufacturers revealed that many companies stored raw materials for both food and pharmaceutical herbal medicines together in sacks without distinction in warehouses.

In the case of herbal medicine manufacturer A located in Gyeonggi Province, the reason for the mixing of Myeonjoin was stated as “storing food and pharmaceutical herbal medicines in the same warehouse, and an employee mistakenly packaged Myeonjoin as Sanjoin due to their similar appearance,” but it was later confirmed that they knowingly distributed it to Korean medicine clinics through wholesalers. Herbal medicine manufacturer B in Gyeongbuk Province was also caught labeling imported Myeonjoin for food use as Sanjoin, manufacturing it, and distributing it to Korean medicine clinics. It was revealed that raw Myeonjoin stored in the warehouse for 3 to 4 years was repackaged and manufactured with a newly set 3-year expiration date before distribution.

This investigation was conducted by the Gangbuk Agricultural and Marine Products Inspection Office under the Seoul Metropolitan Health and Environment Research Institute, which used a newly developed genetic analysis method to identify Sanjoin (including roasted Sanjoin) that is difficult to distinguish visually. For circulating herbal medicines, experts (sensory inspection committee members) distinguish counterfeits through origin and usage part inspections, but it is difficult to judge when Sanjoin (raw) is roasted and sold, so scientific genetic analysis is used to determine counterfeit admixture. The Health and Environment Research Institute plans to expand genetic identification methods for herbal medicines that are difficult to distinguish in the future.

The inspection results were reported to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and recall, disposal measures, and administrative actions were requested for the relevant herbal medicines. Manufacturing and selling pharmaceuticals that do not meet the standards set by the Korean Pharmacopoeia is punishable under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act by imprisonment for up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30 million KRW.

Kang Ok-hyun, head of the Seoul Civil Life Judicial Police Unit, said, “At a time when many citizens have become more interested in health due to COVID-19, we will do our best in investigations to prevent citizens’ health from being further threatened by counterfeit herbal medicines that adversely affect public health.”

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