[News Terms] Genetically Modified 'Jukini Hobak' Used as Processed Food Ingredient

'Zucchini' is a fruit vegetable that, unlike common pumpkins, does not grow vines and resembles a slightly larger version of Korean zucchini or cucumber in appearance. Originating from the American continent, it was introduced to Europe following the discovery of the New World and became widely cultivated in Italy, where it was named 'zucchini,' meaning 'small squash' in Italian. In Korea, it is called 'dwaeji hobak' (literally 'pig pumpkin') due to its larger and plumper size compared to Korean zucchini, or 'seoyang hobak' ('Western pumpkin') because it was introduced from the West.

On the 10th, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that during an investigation of processed foods made from zucchini, unauthorized pumpkin genes were detected in 13 products, leading to a sales ban.

Zucchini squash.
[Photo by Pixabay]

The National Seed Management Office under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 26th of last month that some zucchini seeds produced domestically were determined to be unauthorized genetically modified organisms (LMOs). In response, the government temporarily suspended shipments of zucchini grown nationwide and resumed shipments only for farms confirmed to be LMO-negative through a comprehensive survey. PCR tests conducted on samples from 484 zucchini farms confirmed that 467 farms were free of LMOs, while 17 farms were found to have unauthorized LMOs.

At that time, processed foods using zucchini as an ingredient were also collected and tested, with sales permitted only for products found to be safe. The results announced on this day pertain to that investigation. Starting from this day, the products banned from sale include four types of ready-to-eat meals from Hansalim Cooperative (Anseong, Gyeonggi): chicken fried rice (expiration date January 25, 2024), beef bulgogi fried rice (expiration date December 6, 2023), shrimp fried rice (expiration date January 29, 2024), and vegetable fried rice (expiration date January 25, 2024).

Also included are ready-to-eat foods from Shinsegae Food's Eumseong factory: kal mandu soup (consumption deadline June 10, 2023); Fresh Easy (Yongin, Gyeonggi) spicy shrimp tangsuyuk with hand-pulled dough flakes (consumption deadline October 5, 2023); and from Hyundai Green Food Smart Food Center (Seongnam, Gyeonggi): healthy jjajang sauce (expiration date March 2, 2024), sweet pumpkin bean cream risotto & pomodoro chicken (expiration date November 27, 2023), spicy ratatouille gnocchi (expiration date December 11, 2023), spicy webfoot octopus jjajang rice (consumption deadline December 4, 2023), bulgogi quesadilla (expiration date September 20, 2023), balance meal spicy chicken & couscous (expiration date November 20, 2023), and webfoot octopus jjajang noodles (expiration date October 27, 2023).

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