Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Crack Down on 54 Illegal Manufacturers and Sellers of Ready-to-Eat Meals

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has uncovered numerous companies illegally manufacturing and selling home meal replacement products, including storing frozen black soybeans that were 1 year and 6 months past their expiration date without disposal labeling, and failing to conduct self-quality inspections on fruit lunchboxes for over 9 months.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Special Judicial Police announced on the 21st that from the 21st of last month to the 4th of this month, they inspected 360 home meal replacement manufacturing and sales companies in the province and found 54 violating the Food Sanitation Act and the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act.

Among the major cases, meat processing company A located in Icheon City was caught during this crackdown for storing smoked duck meat, which should be kept frozen, in a refrigerated warehouse and for keeping expired products without "for disposal" labeling.

Meat sales company B in Gwangju City was found to have operated a butcher shop inside a mart and manufactured and sold four types of marinated meat, including seasoned bulgogi, without registering as a meat instant sales processing business.

Food manufacturing and processing company C in Dongducheon City was caught storing six types of raw materials, including frozen black soybeans that were 6 months to 1.5 years past their expiration date, in a warehouse without "for disposal" labeling or separation.

Food manufacturing and processing company D in Seongnam City was confirmed to have failed to conduct self-quality inspections for 9 months on 17 fresh convenience food items, including fruit lunchboxes, despite the requirement to conduct at least one self-quality inspection per month by food type.

Under the current Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act, violating preservation standards can result in imprisonment for up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30 million won, and manufacturing and selling livestock processed products on-site without registering as an instant sales processing business can lead to imprisonment for up to 1 year or a fine of up to 10 million won.

Additionally, the Food Sanitation Act stipulates that storing expired products without disposal labeling or failing to conduct self-quality inspections according to the prescribed inspection cycle for each food type can each result in imprisonment for up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30 million won.

Kim Min-kyung, head of the provincial special judicial police, emphasized, "As demand for home meal replacements increases due to COVID-19 and the rise of single-person households, we are continuously cracking down on illegal activities. We will do our best to create an environment where safe and hygienic food can be supplied."

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