Incheon Restaurants Massively Caught Pretending Not to Serve 'Japanese Seafood'

Japanese Sea Squirt and Surf Clam Disguised as Domestic Products

Following the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, businesses have been falsely labeling the origin of Japanese seafood as domestic.

On the 23rd, the Incheon Special Judicial Police announced that they had caught seven restaurants falsely labeling the origin of imported seafood or labeling it in a way that could confuse consumers.

Origin labels showing domestic, Japanese, and Chinese... confusing consumers

Japanese scallops.
[Image provided by Incheon City]

Restaurant A stored and sold Japanese sea squirts while labeling their origin as domestic, and also listed domestic, Japanese, and Chinese origins simultaneously on the origin label for Japanese scallops, confusing consumers.

Meanwhile, Restaurant B falsely labeled the origin of frozen Chinese monkfish used as ingredients as domestic. Restaurant C was also caught after falsely labeling Russian dried pollack as domestic.

The Special Judicial Police imposed fines on three restaurants that intentionally failed to label the origin. Additionally, four restaurants that falsely labeled the origin will be referred to the prosecution.

9 origin labeling violations caught in Incheon in September as well

Incheon City Special Judicial Police conducting special crackdown on origin labeling of Japanese seafood.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

This is not the first time businesses in Incheon have been caught falsifying origin labels. In September, nine seafood sellers in Incheon were caught for falsifying or failing to label the origin of Japanese live scallops and live red sea bream.

Under current law, falsely labeling the origin of seafood or labeling it in a way that may cause confusion is punishable by up to seven years in prison or a fine of up to 100 million won. Failure to label the origin results in fines ranging from 50,000 to 10 million won depending on the severity of the violation.

Jeon Tae-jin, head of the Incheon Special Judicial Police, said, "We plan to continue cracking down on origin labeling in cooperation with district offices to establish a healthy seafood consumption culture."

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