Some 'Kimchi and Red Pepper Powder' Products Distributed in Gyeonggi-do Fail Safety Standards

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

Some products such as kimchi for kimjang and red pepper powder distributed in Gyeonggi-do were found to be non-compliant.

The Gyeonggi-do Agricultural and Marine Products Promotion Agency announced on the 15th that it conducted on-site inspections of 64 cases from 24 Gyeonggi-do Excellent Food (G Mark) certified businesses producing kimchi and red pepper powder ahead of the kimjang season, resulting in 2 cases being judged as non-compliant.

The inspection took place from October 11 to 20 and involved testing 24 finished products such as kimchi and red pepper powder, as well as 40 agricultural products including napa cabbage and radish, which are main ingredients in kimchi, for pesticide residues.

Finished products underwent self-quality inspections according to food standards and specifications, while agricultural products were tested for 463 types of pesticide residues.

All self-quality inspections were compliant, but pesticide residues exceeding the standard limits were detected in two agricultural items: ginger and young radish (yeolmu). In ginger, fluquinconazole was detected at 0.082 mg/kg, which is 8.2 times the maximum residue limit of 0.01 mg/kg, and in young radish, diazinon was detected at 0.066 mg/kg, about 6.6 times the standard limit.

The Agricultural and Marine Products Promotion Agency requested corrective actions from the producers of the non-compliant agricultural products and will verify the implementation of these measures later.

Choi Chang-su, head of the Gyeonggi-do Agricultural and Marine Products Promotion Agency, explained, "We plan to continuously strengthen proactive safety management focusing on items expected to have increased consumption due to Gyeonggi-do issues and seasonal demand, thereby maintaining residents' trust in safe food."

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