MFDS Takes Disposal Action on Delivery Sashimi Containing Mercury Exceeding Standard Limits

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 9th that it has disposed of one seafood item that exceeded the heavy metal (mercury) permissible limit under the Food Sanitation Act.

Earlier, from April 25 for five days, the Ministry conducted joint inspections with local governments, collecting and testing 494 agricultural and seafood products whose online sales had increased. The inspection targets included 201 agricultural products from major online shopping malls and regional specialty malls, and 293 seafood products.

As a result of the inspection, one seafood item, wild black porgy used for delivery sashimi, exceeded the mercury standard (0.5 mg per kg) and was disposed of. The item contained 0.8 mg of mercury per kg, while other live fish items stored in the same aquarium met the standard.

No agricultural products violated the standards and specifications in this inspection.

The Ministry explained that the non-compliance rate of online-sold agricultural and seafood products collected and tested this year was 0.2%, which is similarly low compared to previous years.

A Ministry official stated, "We will continue to strengthen proactive safety management of agricultural and seafood products reflecting changes in consumer trends such as the increase in online transactions, and do our best to ensure that the public can safely purchase agricultural and seafood products."

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