Seoul City Conducts Special Inspection on Pork Origin for Popular Items During Summer Vacation Season

By the End of August, On-Offline Butcher Shops and Specialty Restaurants in Seoul to Use Pork Origin Identification Kits
Simultaneous On-Site Immediate Origin Inspection with Pork Origin Identification Kits

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government's Civil Life Judicial Police Unit announced on the 1st that it will conduct a special inspection on the origin violations of pork, which sees the highest consumption during the summer vacation season, until the end of August.

According to the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, pork was the second most frequent item with origin violations last year, following napa cabbage kimchi. Recently, as pork belly has been called "Geumgyeopsal" (Golden Pork Belly) due to the sharp rise in pork prices, concerns about origin violations have increased.

This inspection will be conducted simultaneously on pork-specialized general restaurants and online and offline butcher shops. The main inspection points are ▲ false or confusing origin labeling ▲ failure to indicate origin. The inspection will focus on illegal acts such as deceiving customers by selling foreign pork, which costs at most half the price of domestic pork, as domestic pork, especially in popular value-for-money specialized restaurants or low-priced pork sellers.

Additionally, during the inspection, the latest developed pork origin identification kit will be used to immediately determine the origin on-site, effectively responding to situations where it is difficult to verify due to the lack of proper origin-related documentation. The pork origin identification kit, developed last year by the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, can determine the origin within 10 minutes on-site. Domestic pork shows two lines on the kit because vaccinated pigs have antibodies against swine fever, while foreign pork without antibodies shows one line.

If the origin is falsely labeled or labeled in a way that may cause confusion, penalties of up to 7 years imprisonment or fines up to 100 million KRW will be imposed under the Act on the Labeling of Origin of Agricultural and Fishery Products. Failure to indicate the origin will result in a fine of up to 10 million KRW.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government requested citizens to report or tip off food-related crimes such as origin fraud through the Seoul city website. If the report or tip-off contributes to the public interest with decisive evidence, a reward of up to 200 million KRW will be paid according to the ordinance.

Kang Ok-hyun, head of the Seoul Civil Life Judicial Police Unit, said, "Pork is a representative popular food enjoyed by citizens, and since origin violations occur frequently, we will introduce the latest investigation techniques and make every effort to eradicate illegal acts through thorough investigations."

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