Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Crack Down on 48 Illegal Chuseok Seasonal Food Manufacturing and Processing Businesses

Major Cases of Illegal Activities in the Manufacturing and Processing of Chuseok Seasonal Food Products

Gyeonggi Province has uncovered 48 illegal food manufacturing and livestock product processing companies within the province.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare announced on the 25th that, ahead of Chuseok, they conducted inspections from the 28th of last month to the 8th of this month on 360 food manufacturing and processing companies, as well as livestock product processing and sales companies in the province, and found 48 companies violating related laws, including storing jokbal (pig's trotters) past their expiration date by more than one year.

Among the major violations, a meat sales company A located in Yongin was caught storing arongsatae (U.S. origin, 2.1kg), which must be frozen at below -18℃, in a refrigerator at about -0.8℃.

A food manufacturing company B in Pyeongtaek was found to have installed two 43.2㎡ food freezing containers outdoors without reporting a change in business premises, beyond the area registered with the competent administrative agency, and used them for storing raw materials such as seasoned webfoot octopus and seasoned cuttlefish, leading to the crackdown.

A meat sales company C in Gimpo was caught storing 1,440kg of domestically produced refrigerated jokbal that had expired for over a year in a refrigerated warehouse without labeling it as 'for disposal.'

A food manufacturing company D in Yangpyeong was found to have produced products without conducting self-quality inspections for nine months after December 5, 2022, despite the requirement to perform self-quality inspections at least once every three months on 23 items including seasoned sauces.

According to the Livestock Products Sanitation Control Act, storing livestock products past their consumption or expiration date without labeling them as 'for disposal' or failing to comply with storage standards can result in imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won.

If self-quality inspections are not conducted regularly, food manufacturing and processing companies may face imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won under the Food Sanitation Act, while livestock products violations may result in imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million won under the Livestock Products Sanitation Control Act.

Hong Eun-gi, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare, stated, "In preparation for the Chuseok peak season, we will strengthen inspections on popular seasonal foods to create an environment where residents can purchase with confidence and do our best to eradicate illegal activities."

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